WITH the direction Mindanao is going towards its development, a high-ranking government official said the government is looking towards fast-tracking the ease of doing business in Davao and Mindanao.
“‘Yung mga meetings na ina-attendan natin, maraming hiling ang mga pribadong sektor, katulad ng ease of doing business na sana bawasan iyong mga problema sa pag-apply ng mga [business] permits (Based of the meetings we attend, the private sector is telling us, to push for ease of doing business, that problems surrounding applying business permits will be fewer),” Presidential Assistant for Eastern Mindanao secretary Leo Tereso Magno said in an interview.
Magno said by easing business transactions, it will fast-track the region’s growth as well.
“Sana bawasan iyong mga problema [sa pag-apply ng mga permits], para makabukas ng bagong negosyo, bagong proyekto, at ito yung mga tinutugunan at binibigyang pansin natin sa gobyerno (I hope business permit application problems will go lower, as it helps in opening more businesses, more projects. In the government, this is what we prioritize and we really strive to address them),” Magno said.
Meanwhile, John Carlo Tria, Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) president, said Davao businesses are already adapting to digitalization as they implement cashless transactions.
However, applications for business permits and other requirements to set up businesses must be more modernized and digitized. Tria also said there must be digitized ways of bearing user identifications.
“The fact that you have to leave the store, just to fall in line, to prepare documents, get true copies, that’s the tedious part,” Tria said.
“If we have more digitally verifiable means of identification like National ID or the super app proposed by the national government, that would make business transactions simpler, you don’t have to get true copies from these, notarized by that, only to establish your identity?” Tria added.
Reportedly, the House Bill (HB) No. 7327 is titled, “An Act institutionalizing the transition of the government to E-Governance in the digital age, creating for the purpose the Philippine Infrastructure Management Corp. and appropriating funds therefore” was approved on its final reading in the Congress on March 6.
The bill was sponsored by Martin Romualdez, who said it should “make government services accessible to the people.” ICE