Cautious recovery: Business groups banking on yesterday’s promises
The Philippines has been dragged down in international competitiveness rankings partly for its relatively higher power costs.
“The price of electricity should go down and not just in special economic zones,” FPI’s Mr. Arranza said.
Groups representing top merchandise and service exports — the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. ( SEIPI) and the Business Process Association of the Philippines ( BPA/ P) — shared this priority item, along with the steel industry group.
On top of this, the government would do well to beef up promotion efforts to lure foreign investors or boost export sales, business groups said.
“What can be done now is focus on promotion. In this kind of situation, traveling and promoting the Philippines for investment is probably the most efficient use of [President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo’s] time,” SEIPI Chairman Arthur J. Young, Jr. said in a phone interview. This sentiment was echoed by the business process outsourcing industry.
Other groups have called on the government to release the P1-billion export support fund to finance marketing projects, among others. The Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. and member association Home Accents Group of the Philippines, Inc. said the state should make good on its promise.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The construction of more and better transport and energy infrastructure, a permanent fixture in business groups’ petitions to government, was again mentioned.
This time, however, recognizing that there may be little time left to start large projects, business groups settled for at least managing the traffic or getting construction under way before informal campaigning for the elections next year heats up starting in the fourth quarter.
For SEIPI’s Mr. Young: “The South Luzon Expressway (a major link between the capital and industrial estates in Cavite and Laguna) is pain. In the short term, coming up with innovative ways to decongest SLEx shuold be a high priority because 60% of exports come from the South.”
The government should also attempt to start more infrastructure projects, MBC Executive Director Alberto A. Lim said, because “they have long- term impact.”
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry had earlier informed government of priority infrastructure the private sector can invest in. The list was mostly composed of toll roads, railways and airport upgrades to serve Metro Manila and nearby areas.
BPA/ P Chief Executive Officer Oscar R. Sañez echoed this, saying in a phone interview: “The administration should make true its promise to complete a lot of the infrastructure development work [such as] airports, train systems and power infrastructure.”
Other less common requests were the streamlining of government transactions required of firms, strengthened anti-corruption and anti- smuggling efforts and upgrading education to meet industry’s needs.
After needs have been laid out, BPA/ P’s Mr. Sañez said: “They ( wish list) should’ve been done yesterday. They’re all urgent. We just want the administration to complete what it promised.”