A new World Bank-International Finance Corp. (WB-IFC) survey has ranked the Philippines even lower in terms of the ease of doing business, reports said on Thursday.
The Philippines placed 133rd out of 178 economies, down from 126th in the 2007 edition, mainly due to the failure to institute significant reforms, the Philippine BusinessWorld citing the annual Doing Business Survey 2008 reported.
"The Philippines did not do any reform in the past year while many countries were reforming. The Philippines was a slow reformer. If a country cannot keep up with reforms, it will really fall behind," survey author Justin Yap said via a video conference.
Other developing countries such as India and Indonesia soared past the Philippines, taking the 120th and 123rd spots from last year's 134th and 135th, respectively.
Singapore was again on top for the second year, followed by New Zealand, the United States, Hong Kong, and Denmark. Other Southeast Asian economies also fared well, with Thailand and Malaysia taking the 15th and 24th slots.
The Doing Business Survey ranks countries on regulations that enhance and constrain businesses. Indicators include the ease of starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.
"In the Philippines'case, the challenges have been identified and reforms are starting to be implemented but it takes awhile for the impact of reforms to be felt and reflected," acting IFC country manager Jesse O. Ang told a briefing.
In the area of starting a business, the Philippines slipped to 133rd from 108th in 2007, with 15 procedures that take up to 58 days. The country, however, improved to 77th from 113th in terms of dealing with licenses, with 21 procedures that take up 177 days.
Firms needed 33 days to register their real estate properties and must go through eight processes. In terms of employing workers and getting credit, the country was ranked 122nd and 97th, respectively.
The Philippines made slight gains in terms of protecting investors, placing 141st from 151st last year. In the strength of investor protection index, it obtained a score of 3.7 out of the highest rating of 10.
The World Bank group also identified reforms in three key areas: starting a business, property registration and getting credit.
"Focusing the country's efforts on the reforms in these areas can deliver results relatively quickly and will help small and medium businesses to flourish," Ang said.
In terms of starting a business, WB-IFC cited the need to fully operate the Philippine Business Registry project of the National Competitiveness Council as well as simplifying, harmonizing, and computerizing business processes in the subnational level.
Property registration, meanwhile, could improve with the full implementation of the One Time Tax Transaction program of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, while the passage of the Credit Information System measure could significantly improve ability to access credit.
Acting World Bank country director Maryse Gautier, for her part, cited the country's solid macroeconomic performance, which she said has boosted investor confidence.
"Recent reforms in the country sent good signals to the business community. The challenge is to go further in terms of investments, and raise it from current rate of 15 percent of gross domestic product to 20 percent to sustain growth and generate more jobs," she said.
Asian Institute of Management Executive Director Federico M. Macaranas said it was high time for the Philippines to catch up with developing countries.
"Political will is very much needed to push reforms forward. It 's like saying the Philippines keeps on running but others are running faster, leaving us behind. The government, the private sector and the academe must work hand in hand," he said.
Source: Xinhua
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