Japanese business group backs EPIRA implementation

The country’s largest Japanese business group has joined the growing clamor to effectively implement the power reform law rather than amend it.

In a letter to President Arroyo, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines Inc. (JCCIPI) said it  is in favor of the full implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

“We believe that amending EPIRA now would reverse the gains of your power reforms thus far and endanger investment confidence. Instead, we encourage the government to be steadfast with full and proper implementation of EPIRA to achieve its primary objectives of providing a competitive and vibrant electricity industry that can play its role in making the Philippines competitive,” JCCIPI president Toshifumi Inami said.

The group’s letter came after the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC), of which it is a member, reiterated its appeal to government to effectively implement EPIRA rather than amend it.

The Japanese chamber, whose member organizations include big ticket corporations in the country, is the largest group of foreign investors in terms of investments.

Japanese investors also account for at least 60 percent of the total foreign investments in the country’s power sector alone.

Inami said in June 2001, the chamber welcomed the passage of Republic Act 9136, otherwise known as the EPIRA.

This commendable law, he said, must come with a regulatory environment that is balanced and most especially, stable.

“We were apprised by private stakeholders that most of the reforms are already in progress and as a result, the structure of the electricity sector is becoming truly more competitive. For instance, the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) is fully functioning and the generation sub-sector is steadily drawing a number of new and foreign investors to eventually make up a competitive market. The privatization of the generation assets of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) is gaining momentum and can hopefully be replicated with the privatization of Napocor’s independent power producer (IPP) contracts as well,” Inami said.

The Japanese group also echoed  foreign investors’ concerns that changing the rules midstream, “especially at a time when EPIRA’s power reform are beginning to work, will not bode well for more investments in the sector and would put the credibility of Philippine power sector reforms at risk.”