Malacañang orders easing, lifting of foreign investment restrictions in 8 areas

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang has ordered the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and other agencies to "lift or ease" restrictions on foreign participation in certain areas of investment.

Memorandum Order No 16 listed 8 areas or activities where foreign investment should be welcomed through the lifting or easing of restrictions.

These areas are:

Malacañang also instructed the NEDA Board to support all efforts in Congress to eliminate or relax restrictions, specifically “legislation seeking to clarify the definition of public utilities.” 

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The NEDA Board is asked to advise President Rodrigo Duterte on restrictions on foreign participation which can already be lifted or eased without legislation. This could be done by amending the Tenth Regular Foreign Investment Negative List under Executive Order No 184 (s. 2015), signed by then President Benigno Aquino III.

This negative list is a list of investment areas or activities reserved for Filipinos. The level of foreigners' participation in these investment areas must be limited to the foreign equity percentages in the list. 

Sectors where no foreign participation is allowed, according to the list, include small-scale mining, private security agencies, mass media, and utilization of marine resources.

Malacañang issued Memorandum No 16 after President Rodrigo Duterte offered to China the chance for one of its companies to be the 3rd telecommunications player in the Philippines.

Duterte has long expressed a desire to open up key sectors to foreign investment to encourage competition and give Filipino consumers more choices. – Rappler.com