With regards to the foreign ownership laws by its neighboring Asian countries, the Philippines is lacking initiatives on amending its laws to respond to the current global trading.  According to The Chamber of Real Estate & Builders’ Associations, Inc. (CREBA), it is time for Philippine lawmakers to review the existing foreign ownership laws of the Philippines. For CREBA, they believe that allowing foreigners to own land in the Philippines will encourage foreign investors to put bigger and more substantial investments in the Philippines and attract the much-needed capital that will create a butterfly in the country. CREBA also stated that foreign investment will also promote additional opportunities for local businesses and employment and raise additional government revenues from taxes.

In the mid-year economic briefing last September 30, 2011, Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga said that the Aquino government has now committed to allow foreigners to invest more in the industries under the negative list and allow more foreign professionals to practice in the Philippines.

Paderanga said that the government would be working on the Foreign Investment Negative List to make the local investment environment more attractive to foreign investors.

“Our aim is to make the Foreign Investment Negative List as short as possible. Those that will remain on the list are those that are covered by constitutional restrictions,” Paderanga said.

In order to improve the procedures of business registration in the Philippines, The Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), a government financial institution and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the country’s corporate regulator, have started implementing a partnership agreement.

Landbank announced that it would start accepting application for SEC registration of stock corporations starting Sept. 15. All Landbank provincial branches would already be able to accept applications for registration.

by: Austin Shi

If not done correctly from the outset, registering a business in the Philippines can be a complicated and tedious process. That is why it is important for foreign companies to be 100% compliant from the very beginning, and to familiarize themselves with the procedures in setting up and registering a business in the Philippines. In order to successfully incorporate a business in the Philippines, a number of things must first be taken into consideration. The appropriate investment vehicle must be chosen, whether it is a fully-foreign owned branch office, a fully-foreign owned domestic corporation, a fully-foreign owned representative office, or a 60/40 subsidiary, and the business must be registered with the relevant government agencies, including the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), as well as with investment bodies like PEZA and BOI.

Setting up a foreign-owned business in the Philippines is no walk in the park. A foreign-owned corporation must obtain the necessary permits and licenses, register with the proper government agencies, and make the required capital investments   before setting up business operations inside the country. Business Registration procedures in the Philippines are different for sole proprietorships, representative offices, branch offices, regional headquarters (RHQs), domestic corporations or subsidiaries. The type of business established by the foreign investor is determined by the kind of industry that he/she wants to engage in. Under the 1991 Foreign Investments Act (FIA), foreign investors are allowed to engage in any business enterprise, as long as it doesn’t fall under the foreign investments negative list established by the Philippine government, wherein foreign ownership is restricted to a small percentage of the company and the investor is required to establish a corporate presence inside the country.

Subic Bay, Philippines is bordered on the east by Zambales mountains and the South China Sea on the west. A former US Naval base, Subic is now a freeport zone and a gateway for the transportation of goods. And, while it’s topography is more of a jungle paradise, technology, infrastructure, and industry have changed the landscape and the standard of living in the community. Real estate and BPO companies doing business in the Philippines are rising fast in the area and investors are now looking at Subic as a top BPO destination in the country.

Fueled by advancements in computer technology, the Online Gaming industry has become one of the biggest moneymakers in the Philippines today. As responsible online gaming becomes an accepted form of recreation or diversion for a number of Filipinos, the annual profits of online casinos, bingo and sports-betting companies keep increasing at a tremendous rate. PhilWeb, one of the largest online gaming companies in the Philippines today, posted a profit increase of 52% in the first quarter of 2010 alone. Company revenues also rose by 42%, totaling to about Php 239 million. The number is still expected to double, even as the year progresses.

Business Incorporation and Registration in the Philippines

Kittelson & Carpo Consulting provides full business incorporation and registration services to obtain all the permits and licenses needed to legally start and do business in the Philippines. We have registered over 120 foreign companies in the Philippines in the last three years, specifically call centers, BPOs, outsourcing and Web development companies. Our team of corporate, labor and tax lawyers will meet and discus your options and requirements for starting your new business in the Philippines, draft articles of incorporations and by-laws, then process all documents.

How to Register a Business in the Philippines