Economic activities listed under the 2020 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) will serve as the initial projects that will qualify for incentives under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act (CREATE) Law, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said.
Lopez said that even during the crafting of the CREATE bill, the economic cluster of the Cabinet already assured investors and legislators of the continuity of the sectors that will comprise the Strategic IPP (SIPP) that will replace the IPP.
During the extensive consultations for CREATE undertaken by the Department of Finance and DTI-Board of Investments (BOI), Lopez said “We have assured stakeholders -- particularly the investors and the legislators -- continuity as the IPP will serve as the initial platform in transitioning from Executive Order 226 (Omnibus Investment Code.”
He said that the priority list is also up for discussion in the first meeting of the Fiscal Incentives Review Board or FIRB stressing that the list is key in the economic recovery efforts despite the pandemic.
“The IPP 2020, signed by the President in December 2020 itself has been extensively consulted among stakeholders both private and public, including the National Economic and Development Authority and DOF,” said Lopez.
The IPP was crafted as a tool to hasten V-Shaped recovering being anchored on the REBUILD Strategy and provinces teeth to the Balik Probinysa Program.
According to Lopez, the CREATE Law, which took effect Sunday, April 11, “seeks to provide at least the most basic incentive (TIER 1) under CREATE -- provided they qualify to sectors under IPP as the 2020 will serve as the Transition SIPP until end December 2021 or when the new SIPP is approved.”
The 2020 IPP was unique in the sense that it was formulated during the pandemic year.
Under Memorandum Order No.50, the BOI “shall ensure the attainment of and consistency with the State policies under EO No. 226 and the national goals under Republic Act No. 11469 or the ‘Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,’ and Republic Act No. 11494 or the ‘Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.’
The 2020 IPP seeks to provide tax incentives to all economic activities relating to the fight against COVID-19 such as production or manufacture of medicines and medical equipment and devices, repurposing of manufacturing activities, essential services such as crematoriums, health waste management, laboratories, testing facilities, hospitals and quarantine facilities.
The current IPP also listed activities under agro processing, agriculture, fishery and forestry, strategic services, healthcare and disaster risk reduction management services, mass housing, infrastructure and logistics, innovation drivers, inclusive business models, environment or climate change-related projects, energy, export, and tourism.
The 2020 IPP aims to modernize the Philippine economy, generate massive levels of decent jobs across the country, and help solve societal issues on employment, housing, transportation, safe and secure travel.