DTI vows 3 steps, 3 days to start business

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Just three steps, in three days.

It sounds too good to be true, but newly appointed Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. has assured the public that processing time for starting a business will soon be reduced to just three steps within three days.

This is a goal set by the National Competitiveness Council, and Cristobal said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) supports the objective.

Addressing members of the Bulacan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) over the weekend, he cited the World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2015, which showed that it takes an average of 16 steps in 34 days to start a business in the Philippines, compared to 10 steps in 34 days in Vietnam, four steps in 27 days in Thailand, and three steps in five days in Malaysia.

New Zealand was cited as the world’s best as the process takes only one step in half a day.

“We want to accelerate the Philippine Business Registry by fully consolidating and processing all transactions of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and Pag-IBIG in one form and online,” Cristobal said.

He also asked the BCCI to help them urge local government units to expedite their issuances of barangay clearance, community tax certificate and mayor’s permit, among others.

Cristobal also promised to finally solve the port congestion problem in Manila, which has limited the export potential of Bulacan businesses.

“As we are now 98 percent tariff-free because of the launching of Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Integration, DTI is focusing on what are attainable to be solved and shall be solved in the last six months (of the administration). Six months is a short period of time but there’s a lot of things that need to be done,” he noted.