RP wants 100% FDI in retail

RP wants 100% FDI in retail

MANILA (AFP): The Philippine trade department is pushing to allow foreigners to own up to 100 percent equity in the retail industry as part of liberalization moves to boost the sector, Trade Secretary Jose Pardo said Thursday.

Pardo in a statement stressed the need for Congress to amend the 1954 Trade Nationalization Law which sheltered local retailers from foreign competition.

He proposed that foreign firms that invest at least 100 million pesos (US$2.5 million) within two years after the passage of a law liberalizing the sector be permitted to own a 100 percent stake.

Companies that relocate after the two-year period should be allowed to own up to 60 percent, which is more than the 40 percent limit to foreign ownership set by the constitution, he said.

"The liberalization of the retail trade sector is part of the bold economic measures the Philippines committed to pursue in advancing the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement," a trade department statement said.