The Executive Director of the Nordic Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (NordCham), Jesper Svenningsen, said that the Philippines needs to be more competitive in order to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI).
Citing the 2023 World’s Competitiveness Ranking, the Philippines was ranked 52nd, Vietnam; 44th, Indonesia; 34th, and Thailand; 30th.
Particularly, Svenningsen said the country should focus on areas including favorable corporate tax, the issues of the high electricity cost as well as the development of the agricultural sector.
“One of the main factors is the tax in the Philippines whose corporate tax is 25 percent. In Indonesia it is 22 percent while in Vietnam and Thailand it is 20 percent,” he told The Manila Times during an interview on Thursday, 20 July 2023.
Additionally, he said, “If we look at electricity, which is also a factor in doing business, the Philippines is a little bit more than the double in electricity cost for corporate electricity cost compared to Indonesia and Vietnam. That is also significant as the Philippines wants to attract manufacturing.”
However, there are multiple areas that the Philippines has already made satisfying progresses in implementing.
“We are just a little bit behind the curve and we need to catch up,” said Sveninngsen.
