‘Synchronized’ implementation of 2017 IPP ordered
President Duterte has ordered authorities to ensure the “synchronized” implementation of the government’s 2017 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).
The President issued the order after approving the list of investment activities eligible for incentives from the government through Memorandum Order No. 12.
“Upon effectivity of the IPP, all government agencies and entities are enjoined to issue the necessary regulations to ensure its implementation in a synchronized and integrated manner,” the memorandum read.
“No government body shall adopt any policy or take any course of action contrary to, or inconsistent with, the IPP,” it added.
In MO 12, the President has included drug rehabilitation centers, inclusive businesses, and climate change-related projects as part of the government’s investment priorities plan in the next three years.
The investment blueprint, with theme “Scaling Up and Disbursing Opportunities,” aims to spur inclusive growth and generate jobs especially in the countryside.
The 10 “preferred activities for investment” are manufacturing including agri-processing; agriculture, fishery and forestry; strategic services; infrastructure and logistics including local government unit public-private partnerships; healthcare services including drug rehabilitation; mass housing; inclusive business models; environment and climate change; innovation drivers; and energy.
Along deemed priorities are export activities, activities based on special laws that grant incentives, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Meanwhile, the Board of Investments (BOI) has started finalizing the general policies and specific guidelines of the 2017 Investments Priorities Plan (IPP) following the approval by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte of the plan.
Trade and Industry Secretary and BOI Chairman Ramon Lopez said the IPP, which covers 2017-2019 period and published on March 3, 2017, was ahead of the March 31 deadline calling it a milestone for the agency.
“The early approval of the new IPP is concrete proof of the administration’s decisiveness to further propel the growth of investments and job generation in the country and attain sustainable economic growth,” said Lopez.
The IPP is a list of priority investment activities that may be given incentives. With the theme “Scaling Up and Dispersing Opportunities,” the 2017 IPP brings forth significant additions and changes, following the President’s zero + 10-point Socio Economic Agenda, the aspirations embodied in AmBisyonNatin 2040, and the Philippine Development Plan 20172022. Broadly these changes include further emphasis on innovation-driven and job-generating businesses; inclusive business for agribusiness and tourism; broadened coverage of manufacturing; information technology (IT) and ITenabled services for the domestic market and telecommunications services for new market players; environment and climate change-related projects; LGU-initiated PPP projects; drug rehabilitation centers; state-of-the-art engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services; and the lifting of geographical restrictions for most agriculture and tourist accommodation facilities.
Formulated through a participative, analytical, and multi-sector process, the new IPP is expected to generate more investments to strengthen manufacturing resurgence and create more jobs as targeted in the PDP 2017-2022. The BOIapproved investments grew 20.4 percent in 2016, reaching R441.8 billion from the R366.7 billion registered in 2015. This is the second highest since 2000, with the highest registered in 2013 at R466 billion. The 20.4 percent growth also exceeded the agency’s 7 percent growth target for 2016.
The BOI is set to conduct IPP Roadshows in key cities all over the country to be led by Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo to inform and promote to the various stakeholders the salient features of the new IPP. (With BCM report)