Through a series of dialogues with heads of local government units (LGUs), the business group said it plans to instill a “collaborative mode of solving problems” for industry concerns that emerge on the town, city, and provincial level.

“It is time for the business sector to partner with LGUs. We realized that the business sector share common goals with the LGUs,” ECCP President Michael K. Raeuber said in a statement yesterday.

Before any business venture can operate, it must secure approvals from both national and local government offices, among them for registration, taxation, and sanitation permits.

“We both want businesses to invest in localities. We both want local residents to find jobs in their localities so they do not have to migrate to urban areas. And we both want people to enjoy steady economic growth that is in pace or faster than the national growth,” Mr. Raeuber added.

The first in the series of LGU-Business Forums was launched May 29 between officials of the Leagues of Provinces, Cities, and Municipalities in the Philippines; and officials from the ECCP, the Management Association of the Philippines, the League of Corporate Foundations, and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The ECCP identified a number of issues with LGUs during the forum, among them red tape, questions of integrity, and unclear regulations, taxes, penalties and fees imposed by local executives on businesses.

“More business-LGU dialogues are needed to better understand their perspective and to also make them aware of the business perspective in addressing business issues,” Mr. Raeuber said.

The continuing dialogues are expected to help draw in more investment focused on infrastructure, health, water, energy, and waste management.  

Source: Business World Online