The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Foreign trade groups are backing efforts in Congress to open local investment houses to foreign capital.
Investment houses are currently among sectors in local business that the Constitution restricts foreign capital to 40 percent at most.
The Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) has expressed its support for the passage of a pending bill that will facilitate entry of investments through foreign equity and trade liberalization.
In a letter dated January 22, 2015, Rhicke Jennings and Ian Porter, President of American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc. and Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc., respectively, requested the support of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte in passing Sen. JV Ejercito’s Senate Bill 2517, reports the Senate.
The bill which was filed before the Senate adjourned last December sought to amend investment restrictions governing adjustment companies, lending companies, financing companies and investment houses cited under the Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL), it reported.
The JFC commended the bill as a right step toward liberalizing investment activities that would significantly contribute to industrialization and socioeconomic development.
The FINL was first introduced in 1991 as a systemic reform for foreign investments which were restricted to the maximum of 40 percent as mandated by the Constitution and specific laws.
This limit is formulated in accordance with Republic Act No. 7042, otherwise known as the Foreign Investment Act of 1991 as amended by Republic Act no. 8179.
“Ejercito is in great belief that through legislation, foreign direct investment would be guided to the right path of national economic development. The floodgates of job and career opportunities for Filipinos would open once the FINL is slightly freed up from too much restriction. If the harsh realities tell us that there is limited to no job and career opportunities and there is another party that could provide such, we should take whatever help we could get,” a Senate statement on the bill stated.
“In pursuance of economic reforms, Senator Ejercito through Senate Bill 2517 ambitions cooperation from foreign investors in harnessing the rich business potential of the Philippine economy,” it added.
Ejercito, for his part, said progress might be slow, but we’re getting there. “We envision a future filled with boundless business opportunities for our countrymen, peacefully coexisting with foreign cooperation,” Ejercito added.
Riza Lozada