Government asked: Boost farming technology

CEBU, Philippines — Increase agricultural output, modernize farm technology, build mass transport system, and cut red tape in government.

Some members of the Cebu business community made the call to concerned government agencies during a recent economic consultation with the Department of Finance.

Edward Du, governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Central Visayas, aired the business community's top call which is to increase agricultural output through better access and improved public investment in new farm technology.

Citing inputs from the business sector, Du called on the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to ramp up their research and development efforts and “prioritize transforming the agriculture sector into a net exporter of high-valued crops.”

Du also urged the government to boost farmers’ income “through support services and assistance.”

These include financial aid, subsidies and credit facilities for farmers; mechanisms for farmer participation in policy-making; farmer training and techniques; improved access to cheap farming inputs and irrigation systems; and more post-harvest facilities and marketing venues.

Cebu’s business community also urged the government to build an efficient mass-transport system to ease traffic congestions; simplify loan requirements and offer low interest rates especially for small and medium enterprises; speed up processing by the Food and Drug Administration of licenses and certificates of product registration; allow the filing and paying of taxes by SMEs online; and streamline government processes and reduce red tape.

Du said the SME (small and medium enterprise) sector supports the corporate tax reform, which enables them to expand their businesses, raise their employees’ pay, and hire more workers.

He said savings from lowering the corporate income tax – as proposed under the second package of the government’s comprehensive tax reform program — would allow businesses, especially SMEs to not only hire more workers but to even increase wages.

The SME community is also backing reforms to further improve measures aimed at improving ease of doing business (EODB), especially the zero-contact policy provided under the EODB Law, which is seen to create the most significant positive impact.

“With regard to the TRABAHO bill (Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities), we support the lowering of corporate income taxes. Savings from lower corporate income taxes will allow us to hire more workers, increase wages and expand our businesses,” Du said. — JMD (FREEMAN)