The international community has commended the Philippines' ease of doing business, mainly due to the efforts of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) which has been on the frontline to ensure smooth transactions with the country's trade partners.
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The ambassadors of the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, the United States, and the European Union to the Philippines on Monday all congratulated ARTA on its fifth-anniversary celebration.
British Ambassador Laure Beaufils said the UK "has been a proud partner of ARTA over the last few years."
She said one of the notable achievements of the Philippine-UK partnership is the former's "good regulatory principles," which actually drew inspiration from the UK.
Beaufils added that the principles are now serving "as the Philippines' official guide to promoting transparency, accountability, and stakeholder engagement in regulatory governments. By embracing these principles."
"The Philippines has taken a very strong step towards delivering best practices and international standards and regulatory governance, including in its review of procedures to harmonize and reduce the time and cost of opening a business in the country," she added.
Israel Ambassador Ilan Fluss said the country’s achievements after cutting red tape “are not only commendable but inspiring.”
Since Israel and the Philippines share common challenges posed by bureaucracy, he said, the former stands ready to “open exciting avenues for collaboration” as well as exchange knowledge, expertise, and best practices to modernize public service and promote innovation.
ARTA also earned praises from Australian Ambassador HK Yu, who described the agency as a “one-stop shop” for Australian companies in the Philippines.
“Whenever we have an issue, we bring it up. And they welcome us with open arms, in areas like mining, immigration, you name it, they are willing to listen to us. And those discussions have been so productive,” Yu said.
ARTA’s accommodating behavior is only one of its “ingredients” to success, said Yu, who added that she has a “good feeling” that the agency’s achievements will continue for the next five years and even decades.
US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said ARTA laid the groundwork “for a better and more prosperous future for all Filipinos.”
She said ARTA has been working hard and closely with the US government in “ promoting electronic systems to consolidate information on regulations and government services, streamlining the clearance of permits and developing manuals and capacity building efforts to assess the impact of regulations.”
In his remark delivered by Minister Counsellor Philip Dupuis, EU Ambassador Luc Veron said that “our time our time is rendering an exemplary public service to promote the efficient delivery of government services and improve the ease of doing business in the Philippines.”
He said ARTA made many government transactions simpler and speedier, and even online.
“In its five years of operation, ARTA has done an outstanding job of transforming doing business with the government,” Veron stated in his remark.