Monday, March 02, 2009 [ manilatimes.net ]
By Ben Arnold O. De Vera, Reporter
THE Board of Investments (BOI) today will hold public consultations on the proposed 2009 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), which Trade Undersecretary Elmer Hernandez said, would include a “contingency list” of industries that could enjoy tax perks provided they avoid job cuts.
In an outline of this year’s proposed IPP furnished to reporters,the regular list is supplemented by a contingency list that also fallsunder the preferred activities.
The contingency list is unique to the 2009 IPP, Hernandez, also BOI managing head, said, adding this will be the first time the agency would grant perks to job-saving activities.
“We are currently in a difficult situation [due to the global financial crisis]. That is why we have to take extraordinary measures to approach the situation. That is why we have this not ‘usual’ IPP,” Hernandez said.
The contingency list would cover existing projects and/or activities affected by the global economic crisis which would either: retain investments and maintain current number of employees; retain investments and increase current number of employees; increase investments and maintain current number of employees; or increase investments and increase current number of employees.
This listing would also cover new projects of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Hernandez said the BOI has yet to draw up the specific incentives for firms, which would apply under this job-saving/job-creation list. But he said the BOI could probably allow firms that retain investments while maintaining or increasing workers to avail of the additional deduction for labor expense. Meanwhile, firms that would increase investments could avail of perks usually given to projects in expansion mode, he said.
However, the following are not qualified under the contingency list: banks and financial institutions; retailing businesses; services, except those qualified under the regular list; small-scale mining activities; activities that are restricted/regulated by law or ordinances for reasons of security, defense and risk to health or morals; and non-Philippine nationals engaged in small and medium-sized domestic market enterprises that are not qualified under the Foreign Investment Act.
Meanwhile, under the regular list of the proposed IPP are:
• Agriculture/Agribusiness and Fishery;
• Business Process Outsourcing (BPO);
• Creative Industries, such as non-BPO IT-enabled services, and film, television and theater arts production;
• Engineered Products, such as manufacture of air, land and water transport equipment and parts; basic iron and steel products; machinery, equipment and parts; and shipbuilding;
• Infrastructure, including air, mass rail and water transport; renewable energy; gas and oil
pipeline projects; logistics; mass housing; physical infrastructure;
projects under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law; and water supply and/or distribution;
• Research and Development;
• Strategic Activities, or projects with a minimum project investment
cost of the peso equivalent of $300 million, and also either generate
at least 1,000 jobs or use internationally accepted high level technology; and
• Tourism.
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