Palace approves 2014 IPP

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the President has approved the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) for 2014 which identifies activities that can qualify for incentives from the government.

In Memorandum Order 74 published yesterday, the Office of the President said the IPP for 2014 was approved by President Aquino.

The approved IPP has listed the following as preferred activities: manufacturing (motor vehicles,parts and components, body stamping as well as motor and batteries for electric vehicles), agribusiness and fishery, services, economic and low-cost housing, hospitals, energy, public infrastructure and logistics, and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

Last year’s IPP had a longer list of preferred activities covering the following:  agriculture or agribusiness and fishery; creative industries or knowledge-based services; shipbuilding; mass housing; iron and steel; energy; infrastructure; research and development; green projects; motor vehicles; strategic projects; hospital or medical services; and disaster prevention, mitigation and recovery projects.

While the 2014 IPP’s list of preferred activities has been trimmed, it retained the previous year’s export activities list as well as the list of special laws.

Export activities cover the manufacture of export products, services exports and activities in support of exporters.

The list of special laws consists of industrial tree plantation; exploration, mining, quarrying and processing of minerals; publication or printing of books or textbooks; refining, storage, marketing and distribution of petroleum products; rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of persons with disability; renewable energy; and tourism.

The order shall take effect 15 days after its publication.

“Upon effectivity of the IPP, all government agencies and entities are enjoined to issue the necessary regulations to ensure the implementation of this IPP in a synchronised and integrated manner. No government body shall adopt any policy or take any course of action contrary or inconsistent with this plan,” Malacanang said.

It also stated that the chairman of the Board of Investments (BOI) will be rendering an annual report to the President on the accomplishments and implementation of the plan.

Under Executive Order 226 or the Omnibus Investments Code, the BOI is required to formulate the IPP annually, in consultation with government agencies, the private sector and other stakeholders.

The new IPP, BOI managing head Adrian Cristobal Jr. said earlier,  will be valid for three years and subject to annual review.

Aquino said given the gains made over the past four years such as economic growth averaging 6.3 percent per year, credit rating upgrades from debt watchers  Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and Moody’s Investors Services, as well as improvement in global competitiveness ranking reports, now is a good time to make investments in the country.

“I invite everyone to join the many companies who are now enjoying the dividends of their confidence in the country,” he said.

“My administration is bent on making the Philippines even attractive to investors, which is why we remain committed to fast-tracking reforms, initiatives and legislation that will facilitate the entry of new capital, improve business procedures and enhance investor confidence in the country,” he added.