PHL tops 'worst countries' for doing business in Asia – CNBC

(Updated 5:51 pm.) Despite its mineral wealth and large English-speaking population, the Philippines is the most difficult Asian country to do business in, said news network CNBC in its recent list of the World’s Worst Countries for Business. The list, which is based on the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business" report, also ranked the Philippines as the fourth worst place for business on a global scale. Two other Asian countries – India and Indonesia – made it to the list at sixth and seventh place, respectively. CNBC noted that the Philippines attracted only 2.5 percent of the $76.5 billion of foreign direct investments that flowed to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ 10 members in 2010. “Foreign businesses are wary of the Philippine’s unstable legal system, violence, and bureaucracy. Its ease of doing business ranking from the World Bank fell a further two spots this year from 2010," the business news agency explained. It also noted that the Philippines ranks among the lowest in starting a business and resolving insurgency. The latter takes more than five and a half years compared with the average one year and seven months in countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, CNBC said. ‘Dissecting the issue’ Virgilio Fulgencio, National Competitive Council Philippines (NCCP) executive director for public sector, acknowledged the findings of the WB report on which the CNBC report was based. To address the most pressing problems in relation to the WB report, the NCCP will convene a meeting with the concerned national and local officials on Nov. 18, Fulgencio noted. “We’re really studying and dissecting the issue para ma-isolate natin ang dapat gawin," he said. President Benigno Aquino III is active in attracting foreign investments, with the President recently inviting Chinese investors to invest in the Philippines, Fulgencio added. The Philippines also jumped 10 notches to 75th in the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index this year, CNBC added. — VS, GMA News