San Francisco – Filipino-American business communities from the Pacific Northwest participated in an investment and tax briefing webinar organized by the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco, the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Silicon Valley (PTICSV), and Dynamico Space on 12 January 2022.
The webinar titled, “Investment and Tax Briefing: Investment Opportunities, Ease of Doing Business, and Comprehensive Tax Reform Program,” featured Raymond A. Abrea, Co-Chair of the Ease of Doing Business Task Force on Paying Taxes and Chairman and CEO of Asian Consulting Group. Abrea is known as the “Tax Whiz of the Philippines,” given his extensive knowledge of the Philippines’ tax system and consulting practice.
Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Frank R. Ferrer opened the event along with other Philippine government officials – Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez, Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Director General Jeremiah Belgica, and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez.
In his message, Consul General Ferrer encouraged individuals and companies to set up businesses or expand their operations in the Philippines in light of the positive developments in the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery. Consul General Ferrer noted various investment opportunities in the Philippines, particularly in business process management, aerospace, manufacturing, agri-business, real estate, and high-value services including hyperscaling activities, such as establishment of data centers and cloud services, among others.
In his presentation, Abrea emphasized two main considerations in making investments: (1) risk appetite, which refers to one’s ability to weather the consequences of possibly losing from the investment; and (2) due diligence or making an informed decision on investment. He provided an overview of possible investment opportunities in the Philippines such as Real Estate Investment Trust, stocks, bonds, non-fungible tokens or NFTs, and other opportunities available in the country’s digital economy. He highlighted the new laws and policies that would facilitate more ease in doing business in the country such as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law, which grants fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to high-value strategic investments and allows a longer time period for tax holidays and subsidies for key cost items, the Revised Corporation Code, and existing relevant laws.
The event, which was moderated by Consul Vanessa Bago-Llona, Trade Representative Celynne Layug, and JR Calanoc of Dynamico Space, with which the Consulate General has a public-private partnership that aims to promote Philippine startups in the U.S. and the Philippines as an investment destination for U.S. technology and related businesses. ♦
Date of Release: 13 January 2022