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Like Singapore? ARTA eyes business permits in 10 mins

The Common Room, one of the places to visit in and around the Katipunan area in Quezon City, June 5, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

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JEKKI PASCUAL

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) targets to shorten the processing time for business permit applications to just 10 minutes as it urged local government units (LGUs) to implement measures towards this goal.At a forum organized by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), ARTA Sec. Ernesto Perez said the 10-minute processing time to get a business permit in LGUs is the goal for the year. “Ten minutes is doable. Sa Singapore ganoon, 10 minutes,” Perez said. Perez said some cities have already shortened the processing time for permits from several days before to just hours or a few minutes today.“Aming suggestion is pre-approved. Approve muna ang business permit with undertaking they will submit [incomplete documents] in 20 days,&quot; he said.Perez is optimistic that some LGUs can already implement this. But he also admitted that many LGUs are still not fully compliant with the Electronic Business One Stop Shop system. Perez mentioned that Navotas has the fastest processing time for business permit applications at just 20 minutes. Valenzuela and Marikina are at 30 minutes, and Quezon City at 50 minutes. Other LGUs have processing times of one hour or more.ARTA meanwhile said it has also forged a partnership with ECCP to improve the ease of doing business in the Philippines. With the signing of the memorandum of understanding, ECCP can directly inform ARTA of the complaints of its members against government agencies.<ul><li><a data-cke-saved-href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/04/04/23/implementing-ease-of-doing-business-act-not-so-easy-after-all " href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/04/04/23/implementing-ease-of-doing-business-act-not-so-easy-after-all ">Implementing ‘Ease of Doing Business Act’ not so easy after all</a></li></ul> “They [ECCP] are authorized to receive complaints and to refer them. Kasi ang hesitation ng mga businessmen sometimes they hesitate to come out in the open kasi takot sila baka balikan ng agencies,” said Perez.ECCP President Paulo Duarte is happy with the new partnership as many of its members have individual complaints to reports about certain processes and transactions with many government agencies. He added that removing red tape and corruption will entice more foreign businesses to invest in the Philippines and also allow existing investors to further grow.“We should also nurture and support the European companies operating in the Philippines. They will also be the voice in Europe to attract more European companies to come over,” said Duarte.The agreement will also include ECCP recommendations to ARTA on how to enhance government initiatives and on matters relating to the improvement of regulatory systems, policies, and procedures in national government agencies and LGUs.<div> </div><div> </div>

ARTA said some cities have already shortened the processing time for permits from several days before to just hours or a few minutes today.

ARTA said some cities have already shortened the processing time for permits from several days before to just hours or a few minutes today.