Tuesday, September 25, 2007 Incidence of red tape decreasing, RP businessmen say in survey
INCIDENTS of red tape in the Philippine bureaucracy that caused delays in government transactions have reduced this year, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report.
According to the survey, 26 percent of Philippine business executives considered red tape as among the reasons that hampered business expansion.
This is the fourth year in a row that fewer local business leaders reported being affected by red tape, read the Punongbayan and Araullo (P&A) document furnished to Sun.Star Cebu.
P&A, a Filipino professional services firm, is the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International.
In 2004, the business report revealed that 44 percent of Philippine residents considered red tape “their biggest frustration.”
Good news
However, the figure drop-ped to 40 percent in 2005 and was further reduced to 34 percent in 2006.
“This is good news for us because the more streamlined our policies and procedures are, the more attractive we become to investors,” read Greg Navarro’s statement, P&A chief executive officer and managing partner.
To further address the problem on red tape, the Department of Interior and Local Government adopted an ongoing campaign dubbed “Simplification of Civil Application Systems” to help local government units implement systems that will minimize red tape and graft and corruption.
The use of information technology systems in government offices and agencies also helped reduce the number of steps and the processing time in securing government permits and licenses.
In addition, the establishment of the National Economic Research and Business Assistance Center under the Department of Trade and Industry last year also provided a one-stop action center that will facilitate the processing and documentation of all requirements in the establishment of business enterprises in the country.
Completion
It will also link prospective entrepreneurs to credit services.
Earlier, President Gloria Arroyo instructed all frontline state agencies to break down the barriers—notably red tape—that impede the completion of government programs and projects.
She underscored the urgency that all departments put their acts together to attain government targets on economic growth, employment, revenue collection, investments, infrastructure and power rate reduction, among others. (MMM)
