The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) is confident that the Philippines can achieve its target of placing within the top 20 percent of more than 100 countries in the World Bank’s Business Ready (B-READY) ranking by 2028, or two years before President Marcos Jr. steps down from office. However, the private sector remains doubtful.
“We’re doing work with urgency,” said ARTA Secretary Ernesto V. Perez during the 2026 Business Ready Reforms Forum on Thursday. In the latest B-READY Report 2025, the Philippines ranked 53rd among 101 countries.
While the country posted strong performance in regulatory framework improvements, with a score of 73.86, key reforms such as the CREATE MORE Act boosted its standing. Still, the Philippines lagged behind several ASEAN neighbors, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Despite the seemingly wide gap, Perez said there is still enough time to catch up, noting that existing laws are already sufficient to reduce red tape in government bureaucracy. According to him, the main challenge lies in implementation, which continues to leave much to be desired.
He also expressed confidence that the country’s ranking would improve in the 2026 B-READY Report, which is expected to be released in December this year, with the implementation of additional measures.
Perez urged government agencies to pursue ease-of-doing-business reforms even if their respective mandates pose challenges to implementing certain measures, stressing that the ARTA law gives them enough authority to move forward with initiatives. “So if you have legal issues just do it and arta is your partner,” he said.
The launch of a Joint Memorandum Circular among various government agencies, aimed at implementing a unified Business Registry Forum for corporate registration and licensing, is also expected to give the country’s ranking a much-needed boost.
The Business Registry Forum for corporate registration and licensing is meant to address a major concern in the WB B Ready report that it still takes 53 days for the locals to register their business and 77 days for foreign firms with additional requirements for secondary licenses and permitting.
The initiative was launched during the same ARTA event on Thursday. In addition, ARTA presented a Memorandum of Agreement to upgrade the Central Business Portal (CBP), which seeks to unify all national agencies into one interoperable platform for secure data sharing, eliminate red tape, reduce opportunities for discretion, and sustain reforms.
Hard act
Meanwhile, the private sector expressed doubts about the country’s ability to achieve the top 20 percentile ranking within two years.
“It’s hard,” said Guillermo “Bill” Luz, chairman of the Advisory Council of the Asian Institute of Management Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness. Luz strongly urged ARTA to push all government agencies to improve their processes, emphasizing that the agency’s charter grants oversight responsibilities in implementing measures to ease doing business in the country.
“Somebody has to dictate the pace and dictate aggressively. If you leave agencies on their own, I don’t think they will do it alone. I think we have to force that change,” he said. “ARTA had to step in and crack the whip.”
For its part, the private sector is helping ARTA by developing performance tools, Luz said. He emphasized the need for a strategic plan to eliminate bureaucratic red tape based on measurable performance, stressing that “what gets measured gets managed.”
