MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News Serivice) — President Aquino stressed the importance of achieving competitiveness for the country, especially as Southeast Asian countries begin to integrate economically.
He said this during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Chief Executive Officers’ Summit in Beijing, China Sunday.
The President said achieving competitiveness means making changes in the country’s policies and guidelines, to “level the playing field” for businesses, as well as to correct the interventions between the ways and means to achieve all of the government’s goals.
For instance, he said, the ASEAN will begin integrating next year, and this means the removal of both tariff and non-tariff barriers in a systematical way that does not disrupt economies.
Each member country has varying degrees of advancement and members must try to accommodate each other’s needs and wants to the best degree for collective growth within the ASEAN, including their dialogue partners, he said.
Delegates of the APEC CEO Summit have asked the President about the role of the government in attaining competitiveness during the summit.
“At the end of the day, it is a review of all the current regulations, ensuring that there is a logical flow from that which we want to achieve and the means towards achieving that,” he said.
This means a review of all of the fiscal incentives that might have outlived their usefulness and the introduction of new incentives for all the investors and businesses to become more efficient in doing business, he explained.
President Aquino stressed that at this time, there is a need for the Philippines to review its laws and regulations so that the country could have a new economic direction. (with a report from PND)