DOF to focus on technology to improve ease of doing business

The Department of Finance (DOF) is gearing up for the establishment of digital platforms which are seen to cut red tape and help improve the ease of doing business in the Philippines.

In an interview, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the DOF is implementing three initiatives that involve harnessing the power of digital technology to make business processes easier and faster.

In particular, Dominguez said the DOF is preparing for the roll out of the Philippine Business Registry, an online system that would serve as a one-stop shop for individuals and companies.

“This registry will help streamline frontline government services by doing away with the repetitious process of applicants, having to fill up forms and submitting them to the different agencies,” Dominguez told reporters.

He said the registry would help individuals and corporations keep track and validate records, register corporations and single proprietorship, and enable businesses to apply for a license online.

“We want that to be fully operational by the end of this year,” Dominguez said.

According to the finance chief, the platform would eventually link the Department of Trade and Industry, Bureau of Customs (BOC), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Home Development Mutual Fund, as well as all local government units nationwide.

Dominguez said the DOF is also improving the Philipize pine Business Data Bank, a repository of information on all business enterprises in the Philippines.

He said the DOF is also gearing up for the launching of the TradeNet platform by the end of the year. He said this would automate the import and export permit application process.

“In other words, we are going to computerize so that doing business is in fact, cheap. This will also speed up the procurement process as the public will have access to the Philippine Business Data Bank,” Dominguez said.

Dennis Reyes, the DOF’s technology modernization architect, said the initiatives are part of the DOF’s Anti-Red Tape Program.

Aside from these, Reyes said the DOF is also implementing measures to modernListed the department, as well as the BIR and BOC.

The Philippines’ ranking in terms of ease of doing business slipped to 113th place from 99th place last year, based on the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2018” report.

“We stayed, our scores stayed the same, while other countries went up. That’s why we were overtaken, that’s exactly what happened there,” Dominguez said.

“The thing is we can’t really stand still. We have to move ahead because the others are moving faster than us, and its very important for us to push these programs,” he added.

Dominguez said reforms that are required to improve ease of doing business should be an effort of the entire government--including the executive, legislative and judiciary branches.