MANILA -- President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Thursday invited Jordanian businessmen to invest in the Philippines, as he vowed “ease of doing business” in all their transactions.
“There is one thing which I would like to guarantee you, maybe you’ve heard some other time of the Philippines being corrupt. Yes, most of them in the past. But I tell you now, I give you my solemn commitment that if you go there, it will be business with ease,” Duterte said during the Business Forum at the Intercontinental Hotel in Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
“I will guarantee you the return of profit. There will be no corruption and if you ask anything, even a toothpick, I will guarantee you, you can have my audience anytime of the day or night,” he added.
Duterte said he is also considering the creation of a department to receive applications from foreign investors but did not give further details.
"As a matter fact, you do not have to travel from one place to another to get a permit or clearance or whatever, I will create a department just to receive your application," Duterte said.
"We will do the processing. We will give you a list, a shopping list of what to produce. If everything is in order, there is no need for you to follow it up. We will advise you that your papers have been approved and that you can start your business," he added.
Duterte acknowledged that although the Philippines is not completely “trouble-free”, he would consider the country as “peaceful” amid martial law in Mindanao.
“I am pretty sure that one of the things you would like to demand if you ought to invest millions or billions is that is there peace and order in your place? Second, is that are we guaranteed of return of our investments? Third is that can we depend on your talent, you manpower? In all of these questions, is the active labor front, yes,” Duterte said.
“I cannot say it’s trouble-free. Philippines, relatively, it’s peaceful. Business can thrive there and if you say a place where there’s law and order, I would say yes,” he added.
Duterte said investments would help finance the country’s huge population and their needs particularly on education and healthcare.
“We need investments, we need the money to finance the huge population--education, medical care, everything. So we need help, help in terms of business,” Duterte said.
“The concern of every businessman, Arab, Americans, British, or whatever. They go out of their country with their capital, build enterprises hoping that it will succeed and provide employment and profit. No businessman today would go to business if there is no profit. That you have to assume that he is there to make money. I am here to assure to everybody, all our Jordanian friends,” he added.
Meanwhile, Duterte also witnessed the signing of eight letters of intent (LOIs) and two memoranda of understanding (MOUs) between the Philippine government and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Last May, Duterte signed the Ease of Doing Business Act (R.A 11032) to shorten processing times of business transactions in government agencies.
Under the law, government agencies are required to process simple transactions within three days and complete transactions in seven days, and highly technical transactions in 20 days.
Local governments are also mandated to automate their business permit and licensing systems, to set up one-stop business facilitation services and to use online unified business application forms. (PNA)
