THE Philippines will model parts of tax reform on a South Korean (SoKor) digital invoicing program, the Department of Finance (DoF) said.
“We wish to really start the program by implementing first the electronic invoicing system. We looked around the world and we found that the best electronic invoicing program is in Korea. We wish to adopt it here,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, whose remarks to officials of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), were quoted in a statement on Tuesday.
The DoF has started implementing the first package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Package (CTRP) and is aiming to have the other packages passed by the legislative branch in two years.
The Philippines is celebrating the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties with South Korea.
“We want to express how appreciative we are of the assistance we are receiving from the Korean people through the Korean government. I hope that we can expand our cooperation and this time and for the coming future,” Mr. Dominguez said.
In the same statement, KOICA President Lee Mikyung was quoted as saying that South Korea will increase its assistance to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“With the new set of policies presented by the Korean government, our volume of assistance to ASEAN countries will be increased by 2.8 times in 2022 compared to that of 2017. That means the volume of assistance to the Philippines will naturally increase,” Mr. Lee said.
Mr. Lee said South Korea’s other initiatives for the Philippines include education, and information and communications technology (ICT), which the Philippines can tap to help drive economic growth. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
