Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual has convened the Inter-Agency Investment Promotion Coordination Committee (IIPCC), composed of various government investment promotion agencies (IPAs), to provide direction on investment promotion drives and ensure efforts will lead to improvement in the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow.

During the inaugural meeting, Pascual, who is also the chairman of the Board of Investments (BOI), the government’s premier IPA, urged the IIPCC to strengthen investment opportunities through enhanced cooperation and underscored support to the country’s industrialization strategy.

“Let us provide the direction on our efforts to bring more foreign investments into the country. We must make sure that we can industrialize,” Pascual said during the meeting. According to the DTI statement, the trade chief presented at the meeting concrete actions needed to improve the country’s FDI performance.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo also emphasized the need to seize opportunity to realize higher FDIs through particular priority actions.

Meanwhile, the members of the committee pledged to strengthen their collaboration to realize intertwined approaches in image building, investment promotion, generation, and facilitation.

The IIPCC was established through the passage of the Republic Act No. 11647 or the amended Foreign Investment Act (FIA), under which the IIPCC was mandated to integrate all promotion and facilitation efforts to encourage foreign investments in the country.

Along with the Public Service Act (PSA) and Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTLA), the amended FIA makes the country’s business climate more open to foreign investments. The new economic measure significantly stepped up potential foreign investments by streamlining requirements for prospective foreign investors to enter the Philippine market.

The amended FIA clears a path for foreign investors to set up, invest, and fully-own micro and small domestic market enterprises with paid-up equity below the stated threshold but not below USD100,000. The law further cuts down employment requirement for foreign investments in domestic market enterprises from 50 direct employees to at least 15 Filipino employees. It also allows foreign nationals engaged in export enterprises 100 percent ownership in areas outside the Foreign Investment Negative List.

Embarking on a path towards a culture of cooperation, the law removes competition for investments among the IPAs, resulting in the best possible locational choice for investments in the Philippines.