THE Department of Finance (DoF) said it expects more foreign investment pledges to materialize next year following the signing of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) Act.
“The economic outlook for 2025 is brighter as we see foreign investment pledges materialize and local businesses grow stronger because of this law,” Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said in a statement on Thursday.
Last week, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed the CREATE MORE Act into law. It further reduces the corporate income tax to 20% from 25% for registered business enterprises (RBEs).
The DoF also noted that the law was highlighted in roadshows by the economic team during Philippine economic briefings (PEBs) and investor roundtables.
The PEBs are platforms that showcase the government’s reform initiatives to improve the investment climate.
“During the roadshow in Tokyo, Japanese investors welcomed CREATE MORE as a solution to their long-standing concerns about VAT refunds, as it exempts export-oriented enterprises from paying VAT up front,” the DoF said.
Last year, Japanese firms threatened to leave the country due to the government’s onerous value-added tax refund process under the previous version of CREATE law.
Meanwhile, US investors at the PEB in Washington, DC called CREATE MORE “a gateway to their swift entry” into the Luzon Economic Corridor after the Philippines-US-Japan Trilateral Alliance summit.
Participants in the London roadshow described CREATE MORE as “one of the cornerstones bringing predictability and stability to doing business” in the Philippines, the DoF said.
The DoF said the Philippines’ fundamental advantage remains the young, well-educated, and English-speaking workforce.
“Overall, international investors who have ongoing investments in the Philippines expressed their desire to expand their operations in the country,” he said.
More PEBs and investor roundtable meetings are scheduled next year, as the government completes the implementing rules and regulations of the CREATE MORE Act. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante