The Philippine Ease of Doing Business (PH EODB) Reform Guidebook is set for launching on May 21 this year on efforts to institutionalize reforms that foster a more business-friendly environment across all sector later this month, the Anti Red Tape Authority (ARTA) said.
The Guidebook is a comprehensive document that seeks to consolidate, streamline, and harmonize the various reform initiatives, policy directives, and best practices that collectively define the country’s ease of doing business agenda.
ARTA Secretary Ernesto Perez stated, “In an era of global competition where investors weigh multiple destinations before choosing where to do business, we must ensure that the Philippines stands out as a country of choice in view clarity, consistency and competence of regulations.”
His message during the stakeholders’ consultation, Perez noted that the guidebook outlines the government’s strategic initiatives to improve regulatory efficiency by simplifying procedures, reducing processing times, and lowering the cost of starting, managing, and closing a business in the Philippines.
The Guidebook aims to address persistent bureaucratic inefficiencies by providing agencies and local government units with a roadmap for reform which aligns the country’s efforts with global benchmarks, it added.
ARTA said that following the stakeholders’ consultation, it has drawn up the proposed Reforms List for the 10 topic areas under the PH EODB Reform Guidebook for additional inputs and comments.
These topic areas are Business Entry, Business Location, Utility Services, Labor, Financial Services, International Trade, Taxation, Dispute Resolution, Market Competition, and Business Insolvency.
The initiatives are categorized across three implementation timelines: short term (2025–2026), medium term (2026–2028), and long term (2029–2040).
For example, one of the challenges cited under the topic area “Business Entry” is the burdensome documentation process for business registration. The reform strategy proposed is to streamline the registration process by simplifying documentary requirements to eliminate redundant paperwork and harmonize requirements across government agencies.
Short-term initiatives will focus on harmonizing documentary requirements among key national government agencies for primary registration. In the medium term, measures will center on enabling artificial intelligence (AI) to generate pre-filled application forms. For the long term, AI will be enabled to carry out a faster and more streamlined document verification process.
ARTA on its official Facebook page said comments, inputs and recommendations on the proposed challenges, reforms, concerned agencies, and timeline of implementation may be submitted until May 9, 2025.
