Ex-Finance chief Teves backs 100% foreign ownership of firms

Former Finance secretary Margarito ''Gary'' Teves on Tuesday said that 100% foreign ownership of companies would mean a warm welcome to investors from other countries. 

“We believe that the removal of these restrictive economic provisions would send a clear and compelling message to foreign investors, signaling a warm welcome to their investments and business operations in the Philippines,” Teves said in a press release in which he also expressed support for making amendments to the 1987 Constitution. 

Teves said the liberalization laws that allow more foreign ownership such as amendments to the Public Service Act, the Foreign Investment Act, and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act are not enough for the country to catch up to the economic development of fellow ASEAN members.

“The Philippines still lags behind its ASEAN peers in foreign direct investments. Data as of 2022, indicate that Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have surpassed the Philippines in attracting foreign investments,'' Teves said. 

He said that the Philippines is the only country in the Asian region where restrictions on foreign ownership are embodied in the constitution.

“We need to have a legal framework and market conditions that match our competitors. Increase foreign investment in the currently restricted areas will generate a higher quality, higher paying jobs whose incomes provide greater opportunity for more inclusive growth and development for our people and the country,” Teves said.

The present Finance chief, Ralph Recto, has also supported initiatives to amend economic provisions in the present Constitution in a bid to open up the economy to foreign investors. — BM, GMA Integrated News