Gov’t looking to ease business processes
By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE Department of Trade Industry (DTI) looks to enhance the ease of doing business in the country with the use of mobile applications and electronic payment systems for the registration of new businesses, noting such efforts launched by the Quezon City (QC) government.
The QC government on Friday formally unveiled its one-stop shop that will handle new business registrations and the issuance of construction permits. The system allows entrepreneurs to start a business by filing for business permits online, as well as ePayment facilities for business taxes and real property taxes.
“We must make doing business easier. A complicated business registration process is a huge turn off particularly to young entrepreneurs or millennials who would want to start their business. Our current business registration practices are not aligned with the preferences of this demographic who are totally dependent on their mobile devices,” DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said in a statement.
The program is being done in partnership with the DTI, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Other than shifting to online process for frontline services, the one-stop shop further seeks to cut the amount of time and number of steps new businesses would have to go through to secure business licenses and construction permits.
New businesses currently have to undergo 16 steps for their registration which could take around 28 days. The one-stop shop aims to cut this process by half, with giving businessmen the ability to process steps at the local level within a day.
The one-stop shop will further reduce the number of steps for securing construction permits for simple structures from 11 to four.
“The basic principle ay pagpunta dito, mag-file ka lang, umupo ka lang, and in 20 to 30 minutes, tatawagin ka at magbabayad ka na lang. Nandoon na kasi yung assessment, nandoon na yung bayad,” Mr. Lopez said in a press conference in Quezon City on Friday.
New business registration and securing construction permits are among the 10 indicators used for ranking economies based on the ease of doing business in the country. Other indicators are getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.
The Philippines slipped to the 113th spot from the 99th place among 190 countries in terms of ease of doing business, according to an annual World Bank Group report in 2017.
“Ginagawa natin ito para makapag-attract pa lalo ng maraming negosyante upang magbigay ng trabaho sa mga kababayan natin. Patuloy na ginagampanan ng Quezon City ang kanyang trabaho na mapaikli at mapabilis ang pagrerehistro ng mga bagong negosyo, pagrerehistro ng lupa, at pag-aapply ng building permits sa QC,” QC Mayor Herbert M. Bautista said in the same press conference.
