SENATE President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri met with Japanese Ambassador to Manila Kazuya Endo on Wednesday, asking the newly assigned envoy for constant engagement with Japanese businesses to boost trade and investments in the Philippines.
“He (Mr. Zubiri) also encouraged the Ambassador to engage private and business sectors from Japan in a healthy discussion once the CREATE MORE Act is being deliberated upon in the Philippine Senate, to further boost Philippines’ and Japan’s cooperation in terms of trade and investment,” the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau said in a statement.
The House of Representatives on March 18 passed on final reading amendments to the law designed to revive the post-pandemic economy through tax incentives contained in the CREATE MORE Act.
The CREATE MORE (CREATE to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy) measure cuts corporate income tax to 20% from 25%. It also provides duty exemptions and value-added tax (VAT) exemptions on imports. The Senate has yet to deliberate on the measure.
Earlier, Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian filed a resolution seeking to probe the large volume of denied VAT refunds, citing complaints from Japanese companies which threatened to leave Manila after finding it hard to apply for these.
In November, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines President Shigeru Shimoda told a Senate hearing that Congress should push for more tax incentives for Japanese companies to expand their operations in the Philippines.
On another front, Mr. Zubiri said Thursday he was hopeful negotiations on the Reciprocal Access Agreement between Japan and the Philippines move forward to allow the deployment of troops on each other’s soil. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
