The country ranked 113th among 190 economies in the measure of ease in doing business this year, lower than 99th ranked last year, data from World Bank’s International Finance Corp. bared.
Though the country’s ranking declined compared with last year, Marie Anne J. How, chief of industry development division of DTI XI, said the current rank of the country was 35 notches higher than its 148th spot seven years ago.
“We need to have structural reforms to improve our ranking,” How said during the Forum on Education, Trade, Industry Development and International Competitiveness on Saturday at University of Southeastern Philippines.
She said structural reforms should be implemented as there are still hurdles like on the processing of construction permits and dealing on possible ventures at ancestral domain, where there indigenous people are situated.
Guillermo M. Luz, co-chair of National Competitiveness Council (NCC), said in a statement that the Ease of Doing Business Task Force has already been working to improve the processes to make doing business easier in the country.
The Ease of Doing Task Force was created following the imposition of NCC’s Administrative Order 38.
“A total of 10 processes have been addressed, including starting a business or the incorporation process. As you know, the act of incorporating a business requires an investor to file applications with a number of agencies, including the SEC, BIR, SSS, Pag-Ibig, Philhealth, and your local government,” Luz said.
“As these agencies have worked to automate their respective processes, we have worked with them to also streamline the process and eliminate steps and procedures wherever possible,” Luz added.
