The Aquino government assured on Tuesday that the Philippines will strive to remain an
investor-friendly destination by continuously improving its policies to attract more businesses.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press conference in Malacanang, that the
economic managers have been carrying out the policy direction set by the President to make
sure that the playing field for businesses is fair for all the stakeholders.
“Rules will not be changed in midstream and that’s the greatest concern of business
investors,” Lacierda said.
“The economic managers have been addressing the concerns of the business community in
making sure that the rules that we have right now are rationalized and are consistent with one
another,” he added.
Lacierda was reacting to a question about a survey done by the ASEAN Business Advisory
Council (ASEAN-ABAC) in the second half of 2010, which found that the ASEAN region is an
attractive place for trade and investment in a post-global crisis world economy.
The survey, conducted by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of
Singapore, collated 355 usable responses from a diverse mix of businesses across firm-size
categories and nationalities of ownership based in ASEAN countries.
The survey found that 85 percent of the respondents indicated that their firms have plans for
investment or investment expansion in at least one ASEAN country.
About half of the respondents identify an ASEAN country as the most attractive in the country
for their firms’ offshore direct investments between 2010 and 2011.
The leading investment destinations include Vietnam, followed by Singapore, Thailand,
Indonesia and Malaysia. The Philippines ranked second lowest with Brunei. (PCOO)