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By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter
The government may not push through with its
plan to tighten its policy on giving income tax holidays under this
year’s Investments Priorities Plan, the Department of Trade and
Industry top official said Thursday.
“[We] cannot just take away the income tax
holidays [ITH] and other perks, [I] don’t think [we] are already
prepared for such a scenario,” Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila,
who is also chairman of the incentives-giving agencies, the Board of
Investments and Philippine Economic Zone Authority, told reporters.
Favila said the government may want to tighten
its policy on income tax holidays, but investments that are set to
pour in still largely depend on the incentives bill.
Earlier, the Board of Investments announced it
would be strict about giving out tax incentives in view of the
pending proposed bill on rationalization of the fiscal incentives.
Favila offered that BOI is currently identifying
strategic investments that would greatly benefit the country,
saying, “With these strategic investments, the government would be
willing to offer ITH.”
He said he had directed the BOI to focus on
small and medium enterprises, strategic investments and the export
sector in line with the 2008 Investments Priorities Plan.
In a related matter, the Philippine Economic
Zone Authority eyes a double-digit growth in investment pledges for
this year.
PEZA Director General Lilia B. de Lima gave the
number of 15-percent investment pledges. “[We] cannot go less than
what [we] have attained,” de Lima said.
PEZA’s total registered investments stood at
P133.732 billion—higher than the target of P100 billion and 60
percent more than pledges worth P83.674 last year.
The government official said the main drivers of
investments this year will be the electronics and shipping
industries.
“[If] the investment [target] for 2008
will be met, then at least P153-billion worth of fresh investments
will be registered,” she said.
De Lima said that the expansion projects of
existing locators would also contribute to the 15-percent investment
goal.
The agency said that for 2007, P103.844 billion
in investments came from locators and the remaining P29.888 billion
from developers.
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