FOREIGN investors are demanding that they be given a say in the crafting of the country’s Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).

Henry Schumacher, executive vice president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) is now drafting a letter asking Trade Secretary Peter Favila to include them in the process of identifying which sectors would qualify for government fiscal incentives under the IPP.

Currently, the Board of Investments, chaired by Favila, is solely drafting the yearly IPPs and then presents them to the various stakeholders during public hearings.

Schumacher said, currently, the JFC is not being invited even in these public hearings.

“That would be fine if we were invited in the pubic hearing. But it should be while they are still crafting it, while in the process and not after it has been finished,” Schumacher said. He said a big portion of the yearly investments that are being registered in the country are coming from foreign investors so it is but right that the government hears their side also in the preparation of the IPP.

Foreign businessmen account for about 40 percent of the yearly fresh investments in the country.

“We would like to be involved in the debate on what industries would be included in the IPP and, successfully, we were ignored. Come 2009, don’t forget us,” Schumacher said.

For the newly approved 2008 IPP, Schumacher said the JFC is not frustrated because they feel that it is still too broad to be clear to investors what kind of projects can really avail of government incentives like income-tax holidays and duty-free importation of capital equipment and raw materials.

“We really can’t understand what the government wants. It’s very broad,” he said.

Rob Sears of the American Chamber of Commerce said a clear incentives regime is important in making the Philippines a competitive investment destination.

Also, Sears said the government should not worry too much about losses in revenues due to the grant of incentives, to the point that perks given to strategic industries will be removed just to save on perceived revenue leakage.

In the first place, he said the government will not have any revenue to talk about if investors will not come in.

FOREIGN investors are demanding that they be given a say in the crafting of the country’s Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).

FILIPINOS don’t have to be college graduates to be employed by mostly multinational firms, but they must have technical or vocational skills. 

THE Philippines has criticized the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) for its failure to assist developing countries, especially in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, to keep pace with the complexities of global economy, emphasizing that the impact of the rising food and energy prices is widening poverty in the two regions.

THE continuous increase in world oil prices has again prompted local oil companies to increase the price of diesel, gasoline and kerosene by P0.50 a liter over the weekend.

INDEPENDENT think tank IBON Foundation Inc. has remained firm in its resolve to lobby against the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa), saying the trade pact merely highlights the Arroyo government’s insensitivity to Filipino nurses and caregivers.

THE Philippines and Canada are scheduled next month to negotiate for an amended air-services agreement (ASA), flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has launched a new unit aimed at providing solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), which make up over 99 percent of the total number of enterprises in the country.