Metro Manila to simplify business permit procedures

Cities in Metro Manila will simplify processes for business registrations and permits this coming November, meeting targets set by the League of Cities of the Philippines. This was announced by the International Finance Corp. (IFC) on Wednesday, the same day that the World Bank said that the Philippines may be unable to improve its ranking in a survey measuring countries’ ease in doing business. The survey covers July 2008 to June 2009, an Associated Press report said. But that may all change after standard business registration and permit processing (SBRP) will be improved in Manila, Quezon City, Mandaluyong and Marikina. Under the P16-million, IFC-sponsored SBRP, the length of time to register and get business permits in metropolitan Manila will be cut to a maximum of 10 days from 52 days. However, it will not be reflected in the 2010 survey to be released next week, said Gerlin Catangui, IFC’s associate operations officer. A credit information law passed last year to improve access to loans is likely to be a positive factor for the Philippines' 2010 ranking, but the credit information bureau the law seeks to create has not yet been put up, said Kim Jacinto-Henares, an IFC senior private sector development specialist. This means that on this measure — one of 10 indicators in the study — the Philippines' points will remain zero on the number of persons covered by the credit information bureau, she added. The World Bank Group is set to release the Doing 2010 Business Report that ranks economies on the overall ease of doing business. Criteria will be based on 10 areas of business regulation that track time and cost to meet government requirements in starting and operating a business, trading across borders, and paying taxes, among others. The rankings are based on 10 indicators including the length of time it takes for domestic, small, and medium-scale enterprises to start a business. In 2009, the Philippines, which is in lower middle income category, ranked 140 from 136 in 2008. Other reform goals still to be implemented is a Philippine business registry for online registration, the computerization and upgrading of the income tax system, and the creation of a single window for some 40 agencies that have to issue permits or provide services to importers and exporters, she said. Moreover, although national laws are implemented by cities uniformly, “variances" in implementing the Fire Code and National Building Code have effects on business registration, IFC consultant for advisory services Mayet S. Patag said Separately, Metro Manila mayors have agreed to introduce one-time assessment and payment, reducing time and energy spent by business owners in remitting fees to their respective local governments. Catangui added that growth of informal sector is faster when doing business is more difficult. “The less rigid your employment regulation is, the smaller your size of informal sector as a percent of GDP," she added. - Ruby Anne M. Rubio with AP