EU businesses going for LGU partnerships

Grassroots positioning

European businesses are positioning themselves down to the grassroots by deepening partnerships with the local government units (LGUs) in anticipation of the government’s shift towards decentralization under a federal form of government.

Guenter Taus, president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), said they will hold dialogues with LGUs and across all sectors in order to foster sustainable and inclusive growth.

“This will be a platform for enhancing communication, improving dialogue, and establishing closer public-private collaboration, between the business sector and LGUs. By having regular dialogues with the government, we will create opportunities to jointly address the challenges as far as promoting sustainable business and inclusive growth at the local level,” Taus said.

“We believe that the 10-point SocioEconomic Agenda of the administration can be achieved only with the active participation of the local government units. We consider LGUs as keyplayers to create an enabling competitive environment for business expansion at the local level, particularly for creating jobs as a desired consequence.”

For his part, ECCP senior advocacy adviser Henry Schumacher said the business sector has to work together with the LGUs to ensure a stable regionalization whose economic projections and policies can be independent of Manila. “The government is looking at decentralization and regionalization. We have started it. Federalism or not, this is how we can empower local governments. This is how we can basically create better opportunities in the regions where investments can go. We have to understand that we have to drive more investments in Visayas and Mindanao. There are certain areas where only the minimum of infrastructure is available and see to it that the LGUs there are effective in driving and supporting business,” Schumacher said.

“DILG Undersecretary Austere Panadero has invited the ECCP to become part of a monthly dialogue and that makes a big difference. Now, we can ask our members who face challenges or see opportunities with LGUs to join these constructive interactions.” Echoing President Rodrigo Duterte’s stand on efficient business regulation and faster permit processes, Panadero said the government already has a template to meet the president’s three-day processing” mandate.

“The DILG commits to do its share to help raise local capacities for easing the entry of business. We are committed to simplify application for business permits and licenses especially in cities and capital towns since 70 to 80 percent of our business establishments are located in those areas, and to ensure that this is done within three days with whatever form of technology the LGU is most ready to support,” Pana-

dero said.w

Panadero said that along with automation in processing permits and other business certification, the DILG is paying close attention to fire safety permits issued by the Bureau of Fire Protection and developing a better online payment system for other special permits.

Panadero added the private sector is also eyed as a partner in identifying the priority roads that will be pursued following a strengthened infrastructure development under the Duterte administration.

According to the undersecretary, the development of provincial roads is crucial to business outcomes and can be a basis for determining a local government’s performance.

“Poor local roads make it expensive to move people and goods hurting competitiveness and preventing our full potential for sustained economic growth. In 2017, an allocation of around R18 billion, part of a six-year program, is being included to what is labeled conditional matching grant to provinces for the repair and improvement of core local roads to improve connectivity and national road arteries. We ask all provinces to develop a Provincial Road Network Development Plan (PRNDP). One important process in the preparation of the PRNDP is the private sector input to identify which road matters most,” Panadero said.

“This program is a litmus test for the quality and sustainability of public fiscal management and local roads management program. The idea is to give more support to provincial governments showing performance that could pass standards and is implemented the way it was planned. There should be no shortcuts.”

Panadero said for LGUs to be competitive, they have to streamline their regulatory systems; make it less costly for business to operate by bringing down production, logistics, and distribution cost through better infrastructure; and facilitate the participation of business in service delivery through public private partnerships.

The ECCP, with more than 800 member companies operating nationwide, believes constant dialogues between LGUs and the business community can establish stronger integrity mechanisms on both sides.