By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES can become more attractive to investors by pursuing key reforms that allay their concerns about risk, the World Bank (WB) said.

“Uncertainty is a cost for firms, and increasing uncertainty means that investment is deterred,” World Bank Philippine Lead Economist Gonzalo Varela said at the 2025 World Competitiveness Forum on Tuesday.

“To seize that opportunity, what is needed is to offset investment costs from the point of view of domestic reforms,” he added.

Citing the World Bank’s Business Ready report, he said the Philippines is strong in regulatory frameworks, but lags on implementation.

“The challenge is to focus on implementation so that we can take advantage of the fantastic regulatory framework that you have in place,” he said.

He singled out key Philippine reforms like the opening up of renewable energy projects to full foreign ownership, after having previously been capped at 40%.

“That is great, and there is a lot of interest in foreign investment coming into that sector. It is particularly great for a country that does not have fossil fuels and that has high energy prices; it can be a game changer,” he said.

However, he said investors still need to go through hundreds of steps to set up solar energy or onshore wind projects.

“Fixing the implementation challenge is going to be crucial to seizing those opportunities,” he added.

He added that regional trade agreements could also help attract investments as global value chains shift.

“The Philippines has a number of trade agreements in the making. Probably the most significant one is with the European Union,” he said.

“Advancing that is going to be a game changer for the country’s positioning,” he added.

Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) Chair for Ease of Doing Business Ira Paulo A. Pozon said that there remains a need “to curb a lot of corruption and to improve ease of doing business.”

“What the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) has done so far is to improve ease of doing business on a generic scale. The specialized permits now are the challenge,” he said.

“That is affecting our competitiveness. ARTA is doing a good job, but it is really very uphill because there are a lot of layers,” he added.

He said the ideal scenario involves data-sharing by government agencies to allow much of the requested information to be auto-filled.

“At this point, there is nowhere else to go but up, and any improvement once it is felt will really be appreciated,” he said.

“MAP is concerned about ease of doing business because that is the first roadblock for any business application and any foreign investor,” he added.

The Makati Business Club (MBC) welcomed the passage of key reforms in the Congress, as they are expected to “bring in more investors, accelerate key infrastructure projects, and improve transparency.”

In particular, the MBC welcomed the passage of the Right of Way Act amendments, amendments to the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act, and the E-Governance Act.

“MBC advocates for improvements in governance, infrastructure, and transparency as key drivers to attract more investors, thereby creating more jobs. We believe that these reforms are aligned with these advocacies,” it said.

“We hope that the proper implementation of these reforms will achieve the intended goal of enhancing the country’s competitiveness,” it added.