THE world’s top explorers of industrial and precious metals see the Philippines as tied with Malaysia to the bottom of a list by a Canada-based think tank.
A recent study by the Vancouver, British Columbia-based Fraser Institute revealed that the Philippines tied with Malaysia in second or third on its list of 122 areas on how attractive the mining policies of the government are to the
business sector. Honduras was tagged by the Fraser Institute as the worst country in the annual survey for the 2014 and 2015 period.
The Philippines were among the other bottom dwellers: South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Venezuela. The Philippines was also among the bottom dwellers in the Fraser Institute’s survey for the 2013 and 2014 period, a statement said.
The Philippines slid from 61 out of 112 jurisdictions in the previous survey to 101 out of 122 jurisdictions in the new survey.
In the latest index, Malaysia ranks as the least attractive in the world for mining investments, dropping from 70th out of 112 previously to 122nd out of 122 this time.
“While it is useful to measure the attractiveness of a jurisdiction based on policy factors, such as onerous regulations, taxation levels, the quality of infrastructure, and others, the Policy Perception Index alone does not recognize the fact that investment decisions are often sizably based on the pure mineral potential of a jurisdiction,” the Fraser said as a caveat.
Nonetheless, the Philippines fares better in a composite list of how attractive mining investments are in a specific area, combining government policy perception and the best practices mineral potential index, which rates regions based on their geologic attractiveness.
The Fraser Institute survey was conducted from August to November 2014. The group said poll questions were sent to approximately 4,200 exploration, development and other mining-related companies around the world with reported exploration spending of $2.7 billion in 2014 and $3.2 billion in 2013.
Study authors Kenneth Green and Taylor Jackson wrote that the survey had been an attempt to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors, such as taxation and regulatory uncertainty would affect exploration investments.