CEBU, Philippines - The Board of Investments is set to conduct a roadshow today in Cebu City on the 2017-2019 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).
The roadshow, to be held at Cebu Parklane Hotel, aims to ensure immediate and widespread awareness on the 2017 IPP, which is a rolling three-year plan.
The IPP will serve as a blueprint in guiding both the Filipino and foreign investors in matching their entrepreneurial and financial capacities with the economic opportunities.
Philip Torres of BOI-Cebu said yesterday that over a hundred are joining the roadshow today, including local government investment officers, potential investors, academe, and business community.
President Duterte had approved the list of investment activities eligible for incentives from the government through Memorandum Order No. 12.
“Upon effectivity of the IPP, all government agencies and entities are enjoined to issue the necessary regulations to ensure its implementation in a synchronized and integrated manner,” the memorandum read.
“No government body shall adopt any policy or take any course of action contrary to, or inconsistent with, the IPP,” it added.
The President has included drug rehabilitation centers, inclusive businesses, and climate change-related projects as part of the government’s investment priorities plan in the next three years.
The investment blueprint, with theme “Scaling Up and Disbursing Opportunities,” aims to spur inclusive growth and generate jobs especially in the countryside.
The 10 preferred activities for investment are manufacturing including agri-processing; agriculture, fishery and forestry; strategic services; infrastructure and logistics including local government unit public-private partnerships; healthcare services including drug rehabilitation; mass housing; inclusive business models; environment and climate change; innovation drivers; and energy.
Along deemed priorities are export activities, activities based on special laws that grant incentives, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The BOI has finalized the general policies and specific guidelines of the IPP following the approval by Duterte of the plan.
The IPP is a list of priority investment activities that may be given incentives.
The 2017 IPP brings forth significant additions and changes, following the President’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda, the aspirations embodied in AmBisyonNatin 2040, and the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022.
Broadly these changes include further emphasis on innovation-driven and job-generating businesses; inclusive business for agribusiness and tourism; broadened coverage of manufacturing; information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services for the domestic market and telecommunications services for new market players; environment and climate change-related projects; LGU-initiated PPP projects; drug rehabilitation centers; state-of-the-art engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services; and the lifting of geographical restrictions for most agriculture and tourist accommodation facilities. (FREEMAN)