Member government agencies of the Investments Promotion Unit Network (IPU-Net) made a commitment to further enhance their coordination and complementation activities in facilitating and fast tracking the resolution of investment-related issues and concerns aligned with the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Law during their First Quarter Meeting cum Planning Session at the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center office in Quezon City last February 14, 2020.
The IPU-Net is originally composed of twenty-seven (27) government agencies dedicated to facilitate and resolve of investors’ issues and concerns, namely: the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bureau of Customs, Food and Drug Administration, Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Civil Service Commission, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Finance, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Tourism, Department of Transportation and Communications, Housing Land Use Regulatory Board, Manila International Airport Authority, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, National Economic and Development Authority, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Office of the Ombudsman, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
From the original twenty-seven (27) government agencies of the 2007 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the membership of the IPU Network expanded to thirty-six (36) with the notable addition of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the PPP Center, the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), the Bureau of Local Government Development (BLGD), the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Health, the Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau, and Environmental Management Bureau.
BOI, being the lead government agency in investments promotion and the secretariat of the IPU-Net, convened and chaired the meeting to discuss the group’s initiatives and accomplishments in 2019 and how all the members can further sustain efforts to improve the business environment in the country through streamlining of procedures and establishment of close coordination between and among the concerned government agencies on matters involving investments and investors’ issues and concerns.
“We have seen the fruits of our labor. The yield last year was a resounding success as membership ballooned to thirty-six (36) agencies. We will continue to capitalize on this in our collective resolve to facilitate issues and concerns, in line with the aggressive thrust of the government in promoting the ease of doing business and making the country further competitive in attracting investments. This year we expect facilitation activities to step up as the objective of the Expanded IPU Net Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is to fast track the resolution of issues and concerns aligned with the prescribed period of the EODB Law,” said BOI Officer-in-Charge Executive Director Bobby G. Fondevilla during the meeting.
During the session, the BOI recalled in its 2019 year-end report that 129 issues, concerns and queries (ICQS) were attended to, most of which were tagged as complex inquiries. It was pointed out that the most common reason regarding inquiries is due to the lack of updated information or policy on concerned government agency’s website. The BOI reported that all of the simple ones and most of the complex ones were resolved through the IPU Net coordination. Some of the ICQs categorized as highly technical are still in the process of being resolved.
Among the issues discussed during the session included the finalization of the details of the IPU Net Expanded MOA presentation to the private sector, recurring concerns of BOI-registered firms on local business tax exemption entitled under the Local Government Code, Local Government which run counter to the provisions of national laws, non-issuance of business/mayor’s permit to a firm due to an LGU’s claim that it did not receive its share from the excise tax allocation. Issues involving the Department of Energy – Energy Investment Coordinating Council (DOE-EICC) and the Food and Drug Administration were also on the table. ♦
Date of Release: 28 February 2020