Department of Trade and Industry Secretary and National Competitiveness Council Chairman Gregory L. Domingo called for execution and follow through in the implementation of targeted reforms at the first meeting of the inter-agency task force on ease of doing business. Through Administrative Order No. 38 issued last May, the President instructed the task force to initiate, implement, and monitor doing business reforms.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the public and private sectors, including the Department of Trade and Industry, Social Security System, Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Bureau of Fire Protection, Quezon City Local Government Unit, Land Registration Authority, MERALCO, Credit Information Corporation, Bankers Association of the Philippines – Credit Bureau, ACCRALAW, Supreme Court, Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippine Stock Exchange, Institute of Corporate Directors, IBM, Bureau of Customs, Local Government Academy, and Cosmo Medical, Inc.

The Philippines is presently ranked 138^th of 185 economies in the Doing Business Survey of the International Finance Corporation. The survey is followed closely by the international business community and is often used as an indicator of a competitive business environment.

Last May 3, the work teams in the task force publicly committed to realize interim goals for 2013. The meeting outlined the accomplishments they have made so far. The reforms included the reduction in number of days to start a business from 36 to 11 through the Philippine Business Registry and the reduction in number of tax payments from 47 to 14 through electronic payment.

National Competitiveness Council Private Sector Co-Chairman Guillermo M. Luz described the recent trimming in procedures and time as evolutionary and stressed the need for revolutionary thinking in taking the big leap to the 2016 Gameplan targets. A more business-friendly environment is expected to draw more investments and create more jobs.