President Marcos Jr. is set to sign an executive order creating a Green Lane to expedite and streamline the process and requirements for the issuance of permits and licenses, including resolution of issues concerning strategic investments, and eventually further ease doing business in the country.
The Office of the Press Secretary said Secretary Alfredo Pascual of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) presented a proposed EO on the Creation of Green Lane for Strategic Investments to the President who convened a meeting with DTIofficials yesterday.
Marcos welcomed the proposed EO as it would help ease doing business in the country and make it competitive with other Southeast Asian nations in attracting foreign direct investments.
“That is a big thing. That will address immediately what we call the ease of doing business that (investors) always complain about. Until we get to change the procedures… (we will) cut it down as much as we can,” he said.
The government has identified the “barrier(s) across multiple regulatory agencies that hamper the smooth entry of FDIs in the country,” the OPS said in a press release.
Under the proposed EO, all national government agencies (NGAs) and their regional and provincial offices, local government units (LGUs) and quasi-judicial bodies involved in issuing permits and licenses necessary for establishing strategic investments in the country are mandated to establish a Green Lane to expedite and streamline the process and requirements.
The strategic investments include projects identified by the DTI as of national significance; highly desirable projects endorsed by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board ; FDIs)endorsed by the Inter-Agency Investments Promotion Coordination Committee ; priority projects or activities under the Strategic Investment Priority Plan ; and projects of national significance or highly desirable that may be endorsed by the Board of Investments (BOI) of the concerned Investment Promotion Agencies
The EO directs the NGAs and LGUs to act on a permit or license application within three working days from the date of receipt for simple transactions; seven working days for complex transactions; and 20 working days for highly technical transactions.
A technical working group headed by the DTI’s Board of Investments (BOI) will implement the EO and a BOI-Investment Assistance Service will become the single point of entry of investment availing of the Green Lane services endorsed as nationally significant or highly desirable projects.
Non-compliance with the EO’s provisions will be a ground for administrative and disciplinary sanctions against any erring public officer or employee, as provided under existing laws and regulations.
