The Philippine Board of Investments (BOI), the industry development and investments promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), is continuing its efforts to further strengthen the awareness level of its stakeholders on the latest government investment policies, regulations, and procedures.

“It is imperative that we promote ease of doing business in the Philippines to attract more businesses to set up shop in the country. By capacitating our local government units on handling investment-related inquiries and making them aware of the latest government policies, we ensure smooth processing of investment requirements for both foreign and local investors,” said BOI Investments Assistance Service (IAS) Director Domingo Bagaporo.

The BOI, through the IAS Counseling and Business Requirements Division (CBRD), has successfully conducted series of Investment Briefing/Counseling Seminar in the regions and is now focusing on the cities and municipalities within the National Capital Region (NCR) for local investment promotion officers and frontliners to be better equipped in assisting potential and even existing investors.

The first installment of the seminar in NCR was held in Parañaque City followed by Pasay, Mandaluyong, Taguig, Pasig, and Makati for the months of September and October 2016. A total of 291 participants composed of city government officials and employees from various units attended the seminar.

Photo shows BOI IAS Director Domingo Bagaporo (middle) with the rest of the participants
at the Investment Briefing/Seminar in Pasig City.

The investment promotion officers and frontliners were capacitated on the basics of doing business in the Philippines by providing a comprehensive discussion on the provisions of the Foreign Investments Act of 1991, the 10th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List, the investors’ options for entry, the processes in obtaining an investor’s visa, the Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000, the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987, the current or the 2014-16 Investment Priorities Plan, the different incentives offered by the BOI, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Clark Development Corporation and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, and the BOI’s filing and registration fees.

The seminar participants were also given tips on how to be effective frontliners.

The BOI is set to conduct more investment briefing/counseling seminars in the remaining regions, cities and municipalities within the NCR and other potential investment destinations next year.