June 28, 2017

Pasay City, Philippines- The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) underscored the critical role of automating government processes and applying technology in enabling businesses to transact anytime and anywhere, expanding their access to economic opportunities.

The 5^th Ease of Doing Business Summit has gathered public and private sectors to discuss latest developments in business regulatory procedures of government.

On the fifth edition of the summit, four local government units and one national government agency presented their respective programs that focus on innovating ways of doing business and developing technologies to expedite government procedures.

Local government units showcased their latest projects that involved innovation in their system. The Municipality of Sta. Maria, Bulacan shared their experience on migrating their business permits and licensing system (BPLS) to an electronic system, where applicant can file and submit documents online up to assessment of application

Meanwhile, the Valenzuela City government has their own 3S Plus Electronic Terminal System, the country’s first fully automated building and construction permit application system. Makati City, on the other hand implemented Makatizen Card, the all-in-one card for Makati City residents and government employees. This project was made in partnership with Globe Telecom.

The Land Registration Authority (LRA) likewise presented its Online Tracking System which allows the public to get an up-to-date status their transaction and the Aksyon Agad Center, a one-stop interactive support system that receives inquiries, concerns, and complaints.

NCC firmly believes that automation is the key to facilitate doing business in the country. Despite the streamlining of business processes in the past years, speeding up through automation is seen to largely contribute to the realization of the ultimate goal of processing of business registration and permits in a single day.

By improving government procedures through automation, NCC is confident that the Philippines will be more competitive in terms of ease of doing business. In the latest Doing Business Report released by World bank-International Finance Corp, the Philippines moved four notches up to 99^th place from previous year’s 103^rd.

In a recent development, the NCC has partnered with New Zealand government through a technical assistance to look at creative ways to streamline and automate our government procedures at both national and LGU levels.

NCC believes that the breakthrough technology should be utilized are mobile phone apps independently created by independent app designers and used extensively by LGUs and government agencies on a per transaction basis. These can be quickly developed and constantly upgraded by talented Filipino tech entrepreneurs.