DTI chief on 14-notch drop in ease of doing business: Reforms not felt yet

Reforms introduced by the government have not have not yet manifested the desired effect as the Philippines dropped 14 notches in the recent World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Thursday.

"The impact of improvements introduced by the Duterte administration in the second half of 2016 may have not been fully experienced yet by the businessmen surveyed during the first five months of 2017," Lopez, who is also the co-chair of National Competitiveness Council (NCC), said in a press conference in Makati City.

In the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report 2018, the Philippines ranked 113th, down 14 places from 99th a year earlier.

While the country's ranking dropped, the Philippine score improved slightly to 58.74 from 58.32. This score, however, is still below the average 62.7 in the East Asia and Pacific region.

"We acknowledged that other economies had made larger improvements than the Philippines," Lopez said.

Private sector NCC co-chair Guillermo Luz noted the World Bank also introduced "methodological" and "computation" changes in conducting its Ease of Doing Business survey.

Luz said the government introduced automation reforms with the establishment of online electronic payment systems in some agencies such as Pag-IBIG and PhilHealth.

With these reforms, the country's rank in the area of "paying" improved from 115th to 105th, he said.

In nine other indicators, however, the Philippines's ranked 173rd from 171st in terms of number of days in starting a business, 101st from 85th in dealing with construction permits, 31st from 22nd in getting electricity, 114th from 112th in registering property, 142nd from 118th in getting credit, 146th from 137th in protecting investors, 99th from 95th in trading across borders, 149th from 136th in enforcing contracts, and 59th from 56th in resolving insolvency.

"This means that reforms in some of these areas are not yet felt by the users at the frontline services, suggesting the need to improve the implementation of improvements in the system," Lopez said.

Nevertheless, Lopez said the Duterte administration reaffirms its commitment to accelerate reforms and improve ease of doing business in the country.

The Trade chief said earlier that the government intends to improve ease of doing business in the country. By 2020, the target is to reach the top 20 in its ranking, Lopez noted. — VDS/MDM, GMA News