THE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI) said it is seeking a dialogue with the incoming administration to discuss how to attract more investment in the electronics industry, the country’s leading generator of exports.
SEIPI President Danilo C. Lachica said that the electronics industry wants to “get a dialogue scheduled with (President-elect Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.), the Cabinet, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. This dialogue will essentially clarify our concerns and hopefully prevent more capital flight and attract investment,” Mr. Lachica said in a recent television interview.
“We’d like to discuss how we can harmonize policies, how we can possibly review Republic Act No. 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act, specifically the incentives rationalization, eliminating corruption, and promote ease of doing business, and upgrading education to improve the skills of university graduates,” he added.
According to Mr. Lachica, “The first order of business is helping the government, helping the President, understand the electronics industry because once they do, then everything else falls into place,” he said, adding that both sides can work towards “reducing operating costs and enhancing the incentives package.”
Previously, Mr. Lachica has said that the Philippines lost $3.6 billion worth of investment and 25,000 jobs to Vietnam, Thailand, and China as a result of investor concerns regarding the rationalization of incentives.
Earlier this year, SEIPI said electronics exports for 2021 rose 12.9% to $45.92 billion due to higher demand for technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, automation, and applications that enable working from home and telemedicine.
For 2022, SEIPI has set a target of 10% growth for the industry. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
