PHILIPPINES JUMPS TO NO. 95 IN LATEST WORLD BANK - IFC EASE OF DOING BUSINESS REPORT

The Philippines jumped to No. 95 out of 189 economies worldwide in the latest World Bank - IFC Ease of Doing Business report released earlier today. That was an improvement of 13 countries from a rank of No. 108 based on last year's published report of the IFC. The Philippines also moved up to No. 5 in ASEAN from No. 6 last year and No. 8 in 2012. The country has moved up 53 countries since 2011.

There may be some confusion arising from a different set of numbers presented in IFC's Doing Business website. Those numbers are based on a new methodology applied to last year's results and are not to be confused with the published results which formed the basis for both the NCC's and the World Bank-IFC's statements released this morning. Advanced copies of the Doing Business report were made available to us as recently as Monday, October 27 and reflected the published version of the results.

This year's report illustrates the areas where the Philippines has made great strides as well as areas where we need to make improvements. Through our Doing Business Task Forces, the NCC will continue to introduce changes designed to bring the country to the top-third of global rankings by 2016 from its starting point in the bottom-third of the tables three years ago.

GUILLERMO M. LUZ

Co-Chairman, Private Sector