CEBU, Philippines — The recent passage of the Foreign Investment Act (FIA) is seen to make the Philippines more attractive to foreign investors.
Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president Steven Yu said the FIA passage will translate to the increase of FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows and will expand the size of the industries included due to more capital to expand capacity.
“It will not only generate more jobs but will also expand the liquidity of our system,” Yu said.
President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed into law Republic Act 11647, amending the Foreign Investments Act (FIA) to improve foreign investments in the country.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez, in a statement, said the new law will encourage more investments into the country.
“We in the economic team have always been in favor of reasonably opening up the economy and liberalizing as many restrictions that hinder the continuous and fast growth of the economy,” Lopez said.
“Indeed, we cannot overemphasize the importance of a major shift in mindset and economic policy direction. For the country to lead a path to recovery amid Covid-19, we have been a consistent advocate for the amendment of this passage which aims to lessen barriers for foreign entry and is expected to hasten the country’s economic growth through foreign investment,” the Trade chief added.
The amended Foreign Investment Law is positioned to attract more foreign investments amid the Covid-19 pandemic as it provides less stringent requirements for potential foreign investors to enter the Philippine market.
The FIA of 1991 was a consolidation of Senate Bill 1156 and House Bill 300 and was eventually certified as urgent by Duterte along with amendments for the Public Service Act and Retail Trade Liberalization Act last year.
According to Yu, it is a sure-fire way to aid economic recovery for those concerned industries like telecommunications, tollways, and railways, among others.
“We are pretty sure that many foreign players are interested to enter those sectors. It will not solve our total economic woes but it will save many jobs in those sectors,” said Yu.