With over 50 investment laws that hamper rather than attract investors, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Finance have agreed to work together for the passage of a simplified investment law in the next Congress, a government press release said.

“We already agreed to make some reforms to trim down the number of the laws to a few,” DTI Secretary Gregory Domingo said during an interview after Philippine Economic Briefing at the Philippine International Convention Center yesterday.

“The focus now is on identifying who should be given incentives and what kind of incentives, Domingo explained.

He added that no particular industry was given priorities but DTI was looking more on the manufacturing sector, both local and foreign, and study which incentives based on a rationalized law would suit the industry.

Domingo also expressed his confidence that the country could sustain if not surpass the 6.6 percent GDP growth in the next three years as development is happening “across the board” now.

“The manufacturing sector would continue to expand and grow as more plants, which normally take two to three years to finish construction, have been completed and would start production anytime this year,” he explained.

He said that even garments, leather-based apparels and wood products have shown great expansion and development.

“The DTI is looking more on the value added feature on an existing investment rather than on absolute investment, a great factor that could drive development,” he added.

He also added that more production-based companies will come to the Philippines as the country’s labor cost is relatively cheaper compared to China.*

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