PH to lose $3.6Bn worth of investments
The Philippines is bound to lose $3.6 billion in investment opportunities due to foreign investors getting turned off by alleged inconsistencies in government policies.
Among these are two new potential expansion projects in the electronics manufacturing sector with an estimated $400-million worth of investments and 25,000 job opportunities.
According to Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI) President and CEO Dan Lachica, there is a current capital flight in the country with five companies worth $3.2 billion already moving to Vietnam, Thailand, and China.
Lachica said that the incentives rationalization under the CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) Law — which was “really really detrimental to investments” — is not sitting well with the electronics sector.
Aside from this, the work-from-home and approval of incentives for PEZA enterprises also negatively affect possible investments in the industry.
Further, Lachica noted that the audit inconsistencies in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) show a perception of corruption in the previous government.
When asked for a possible solution to this dilemma, Lachica ranked the electronics firms’ concerns in order of priority as – incentives rationalization, threats of government regulation with the work-from-home issue, Bureau of Internal audit, and Bureau of Customs issues.
