Foreign business ownership limits to ease by 2017

The Philippines might see an influx in foreign investments as the country is set to relax foreign ownership rules in 2017.

POSSIBLE INFLUX IN FOREIGN INVESTMENTS? With Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez (in photo) saying that the government will open areas for investments next year, an influx of foreign investors is more than likely to happen. Photo grabbed from Department of Finance

“In the next year, we will be opening the areas for investments that have been administratively limited and this will be done in May of 2017,” said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez during the Philippine Economic Forum at the Prince Park Hotel in Tokyo, Japan yesterday, October 26.

He also said that “the President has called for a constitutional convention to open up those areas of our economy that are limited by our Constitution with the exception of land ownership.”

Japanese businessmen present during the forum are already looking forward to more investment opportunities in the country thanks to the lifting of restrictions stipulated in the Constitution.

Teruo Asada, co-chairman of the Japan-Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee, for one, urged the Philippine delegation led by President Rodrigo Duterte to speed up the lifting of constitutional restrictions in doing business in the country.

“We expect the Philippines to relax constitutional restriction on foreign investments,” Asada said during the opening of the forum.

Current foreign ownership rules stated in the 1987 Constitution dictate that foreign ownership is restricted to 40%. The local business community has long been calling for an amendment of the foreign ownership policy in the constitution. Experts have said that the set-up is detrimental to the country, as overseas firms have always had interest in the country.

 

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, GMA News Online, The Philippine Star