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.

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.