NEDA dances the Cha-cha

National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan is pushing for Charter change to remove restrictions on foreign investments and make the country more competitive.

In a Malacañang briefing on Friday, Balisacan emphasized the need to remove the “unnecessary restrictions” on foreign investments, citing the country’s lagging performance compared to its neighbors.

He pointed out that many big investments were going to other Southeast Asian countries due to the restrictive constitutional provisions.

“We need to make the country more competitive, we need to eliminate those restrictions, unnecessary restrictions and foreign investments so that we can have a chance of attracting foreign investments,” Balisacan said.

But he pointed out that amending the Constitution was not the only solution for boosting the economy.

He noted other factors that needed to be addressed, such as improving the ease of doing business, reducing the cost of inputs like energy, and ensuring the predictability of policies.

“There are things that we need to do at the same time so that we can get the full benefits after removing those economic restrictions in the Constitution,” he said.

“I hope lawmakers can agree on Cha-cha soon.”

Balisacan expressed hope the lawmakers would agree on the mode for Charter change to avoid uncertainty, which could negatively impact investments.

“Well, I hope they can agree very soon because we don’t want that uncertainty which is one of the factors that inhibits investments, whether domestic or foreign. We hope that our leaders will come to a common position quickly so that we can move on,” he said.

The Socioeconomic Planning secretary lamented that most of the “big” investments have gone to other Asian countries due to the Constitution’s limitations on foreign investments.

Balisacan identified the education sector as being ripe for foreign ownership, citing the missed opportunity to attract campus branches of prestigious foreign universities.

He also highlighted the need to ease restrictions on foreign professionals practicing in the Philippines, particularly engineers and professors.

He, however, expressed reservations about opening up land ownership to foreigners, fearing it would drive up prices and make it difficult for ordinary Filipinos to acquire property.