They said wooing investors during roadshows, business seminars and trade talks held overseas at the start of the Aquino administration attracted only modest numbers of participants.

Sometimes foreign investors would raise doubts about the viability of the Philippines as a market and an investment destination.

But the economic and governance reforms implemented by the outgoing administration changed the perception of the global investing community about the Philippines, which has now become one of the most viable, attractive destinations in the Asean region.

Former trade secretary Gregory Domingo said earlier that good governance placed the Philippines on the economic map.

Over the last five years, strides made in good governance increased the country’s investment grade level by two notches, as reported by credit rating agencies Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.

This put the Philippines in a sweet spot that increased investments and boosted the country’s economic performance to record levels – growth investors are hoping to be sustained over the long term.

These days, foreign investors are approaching trade officials, seeking to be part of the country’s economic success story – instead of the other way around back in 2010.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was believed to have played a key role in enabling the country to achieve its stellar status today.

Ease of doing business

The trade department eased and speeded up processing and cut the costs of doing business in the Philippines through various projects, such as the Electronic Business Name Registration System launched in October 2010.

Others were the Philippine Business Registry, electronic payment scheme for business registration and collaborations and partnerships between the DTI and other government agencies to streamline processes, curb red tape and eliminate redundant filings.

“Streamlining the processes has always been a top priority of the government.

“We have been making significant progress in our commitment to reduce the process – from 16 steps and 29 days in 2015 to six steps and eight days early in 2016, and further to three steps and three days,” incumbent Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr said last month.

“We are committed to support the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to make them globally competitive.

“An important first step is to make it easy for them to set up and comply with government requirements,” he also said.

These developments were reflected in the country’s rise in rankings in various global competitiveness indices, as monitored by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC).

The Philippines has jumped 45 notches in the International Finance Corp’s Doing Business Report and The Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index since 2011; 39 places up in the Corruption Perception Index; and 38 places in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report.

Among the key areas where the country has seen “upgrades” involved resolving insurgency (up 100 notches), dealing with construction permits (up 57), getting electricity (up 35) and getting credit (up 19).

Also some initiatives of DTI and the NCC were to repeal, delist, consolidate or amend department issuances and regulations considered outdated, redundant or contradictory to help eliminate red tape and curb corruption.

Called Project Repeal, the initiative is eventually expected to reduce the cost of compliance for both businesses and consumers, generate significant savings for the economy and further boost the competitiveness of local industries.

The NCC has already identified 17,300 department issuances by eight government agencies.

George Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said earlier they hope the next president would address the issues the group identified and which it dubbed as Giant Steps – an acronym for good governance, infrastructure, agriculture, new era of manufacturing, tourism – Giant – and science, technology, education and people skills – Steps.