PDu30, nilagdaan ang batas na makapagbubukas pa sa retail sector ng Pinas sa mga foreign investors

MAS pinadali na ni Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte sa mga dayuhan na makapag- invest sa retail sector ng Pilipinas.

Ito’y matapos pirmahan ni Pangulong Duterte ang batas na Republic Act (RA) No.11595, na inamiyendahan ang RA No. 8762 o ang Retail Trade Liberalization Act na may dalawang dekadang taon na.

Ang buong titulo ng bagong batas ay nagsasaad na “An act amending Republic Act No. 8762, otherwise known as the ‘Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000’, by lowering the required paid-up capital for foreign retail enterprises, and for other purposes.”

Nilagdaan ito ng Chief Executive noong Disyembre 10.

Sa ilalim ng RA No.11595, ang minimum paid-up capital para sa foreign retail investors ay ibinaba sa P25 million.

Base sa nakalipas na bersyon ng batas, “foreigners can set up wholly-owned enterprises with a minimum paid-up capital of $2.5 million or some P127 million, subject to certain requirements.”

Ang legal revision na ito ay naging panawagan ng local business group. Binanggit ng Pangulo, bilang priority measure sa kanyang huling State of the Nation Address (SONA) noong Hulyo 2021.

Inaasahan naman ng mga tagapagtaguyod ng batas, na mapapalakas ng bansa ang foreign direct investments o FDI sa pamamagitan ng mas binuksang local retail sector.

Ayon sa four-page statute, irerebisang mabuti ng Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), at National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) ang required minimum paid-up capital kada tatlong taon.

“It provides for a “minimum investment per store’” that “will include the value of the gross assets, tangible or intangible, including but not limited to buildings, leaseholds, furniture, equipment, inventory, and common use facilities,” ayon sa ulat.

“In the case of foreign retailers engaged in retail trade through more than one physical store, the minimum investment per store must be at least P10 million,” dagdag nito. (Daris Jose)