LOCAL and foreign businessmen are hoping the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Aquino today would include announcements on measures to reduce poverty, further spur economic growth and enable local business enterprises to meet the challenges of free trade.

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Vice Chairman Donald Dee said the group wants to hear the President announce a road map that will reduce energy cost, as well as firm plans on infrastructure buildup to cut logistics cost.

“We would like to hear the President say that there will be a competition law, incentives will be rationalized and that the government will exert more effort to fight smuggling. We also hope that the government will commit that policies will not be changed midstream,” said Dee in a text message.

The PCCI is also hopeful that the President will continue to pursue good-government initiatives.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) said it would appreciate hearing plans of the government to achieve inclusive growth.

“We hope the President will announce policies that will focus on the development of the real economy—manufacturing and agribusiness—which are big job-generators,” said Ecop President Edgardo Lacson.

He said there is still no solid plan to fully revive the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

This is why despite the robust economic growth, the government remains a failure when it comes to job-generation, he said.

It is also the group’s wish, Lacson said, that the President’s Sona will touch on policies that would ensure food security, energy self-sufficiency, upgrade of infrastructure and intermodal transport system, reinvigorate the mining industry and bring about lasting peace in Mindanao.

As for the government’s social programs, Lacson said Ecop would await the President’s pronouncement on transforming the state’s Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program into a livelihood scheme and the provision of affordable education for all Filipino youth.

He said Ecop wants to hear the President tackle programs that would prepare micro, small and medium enterprises for the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) into a single economic community.

“We also want to find out how the President will end smuggling, which results in losses of more than P100 billion in annual government revenues,” said Lacson.

“Three years may not be enough to deliver these goals but the government can begin vigorously pursuing these initiatives and provide the momentum for the seamless turnover of the watch to the next administration,” he added.

Domestic manufacturers belonging to the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) are also hoping the President would include the bill amending the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines in his priority measures for the 16th Congress.

FPI Chairman Jesus L. Arranza said the Bureau of Customs is very important since it is the first line of defense for the collection of proper taxes. He said the moment businessmen resort to smuggling, they would need to commit frauds every step of the way to hide inconsistencies, thus, compounding the revenue losses of the government.

Arranza said the administration should also give top priority to the passage of the Competition Act. The domestic manufacturers, he added, also want the President to order all state agencies and corporations to prioritize locally produced products in their procurement without going against the country’s World Trade Organization commitments.

“The government is amply addressing the rest [of our concerns] already. It’s just a matter of time and I call on the people to also be patient. It takes a while for the government to institute all the necessary reforms,” Arranza said.

The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), for its part, said it hopes the President’s Sona would include a commitment to accelerate and implement strategic infrastructure projects, including public-private partnership (PPP) projects that are in the pipeline.

ECCP Executive Vice President Henry Schumacher said the group would also await the possible announcement on the enactment of an effective antitrust law and competition policy.

“We strongly urge the rationalization of existing incentive-giving laws to further spur investments in crucial and strategic sectors. We also support retaining the existing Philippine Mining Act, complemented by the implementation of an internationally competitive fiscal regime,” said Schumacher in an e-mail.

He said the ECCP also hopes the government would increase the country’s power-generation facilities within the President’s term, end smuggling, and revise the Foreign Investment Negative List.

Source: Business Mirror(www.businessmirror.com.ph); News; 21 July 2013