Report on the Conduct of the Exposure Trip to Singapore and Malaysia on Business Permit Reforms and Investment Planning and Promotion

The Project's objectives are to lower transactions costs and reduce the cost of doing business in the cities' jurisdictions, as well as to increase their competitiveness as investment destinations. The Project is assisting these cities in streamlining business registration processes and in improving local investment planning and promotion. Under the Project's Program Area 2.1: "Strengthened Planning, Investment Programming and Budgeting," specifically Deliverable No. 1: "Enhanced Required Local Planning Documents," the Project organized an international study tour to provide a venue for its three partner cities to appreciate and benchmark with the best practices in neighboring cities in Asia on investment planning and promotion as well as in establishing regulatory policies in business transactions and operations. The Exposure Trip to Singapore and Malaysia on Business Permit Reforms and Investment Planning and Promotion was successfully organized and conducted from February 14-19, 2013. The tour was intended to provide a wider and more global perspective on the ongoing business reforms. The partner cities were given the chance to observe, inquire about, and analyze the solutions that other countries, especially their cities, executed to reduce transaction costs of investors and promote their cities as investment destinations. The Exposure Trip was designed for the partner cities to study various modalities or strategies that Malaysia and Singapore have adopted to promote and market their localities as investment areas. The delegation from the Philippines visited and observed the management of investment promotion initiatives, including promotion centers, as well as business registration and permitting offices. They interacted directly with country and city officials and staff to get first-hand information on the planning, establishment, and institutionalization of, and roles in, investment promotion and business permitting as core functions of government. The 25-member Philippine delegation to the Exposure Trip was headed by Mr. John Lawrence Avila of USAID/Philippines and was participated in by key officials and selected businessmen from the partner cities and representatives from selected offices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The delegation from Batangas City had the most number of participants, followed by Iloilo City and Cagayan de Oro City. The Exposure Trip provided a valuable opportunity for the partner cities to learn from the best practices of Malaysia and Singapore and to apply these lessons to their own investment planning and promotion efforts. The Exposure Trip was a key activity under the Project's Program Area 2.1, which aims to strengthen the planning, investment programming, and budgeting capabilities of the partner cities. The tour was designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the investment climate in Malaysia and Singapore and to identify best practices that can be adapted by the partner cities. The Exposure Trip was a successful endeavor that contributed to the achievement of the Project's objectives and helped to improve the investment climate in the Philippines. The Exposure Trip provided a platform for the partner cities to interact with country and city officials and staff, as well as with the private sector, to get first-hand information on the planning, establishment, and institutionalization of, and roles in, investment promotion and business permitting as core functions of government. The tour also provided an opportunity for the partner cities to observe adopted technologies of other countries, especially on information technology, and other related factors that had facilitated the ease of doing business in those countries. The Exposure Trip was a valuable experience for the partner cities, and the lessons learned from the tour will be applied to their own investment planning and promotion efforts. The tour was a key activity under the Project's Program Area 2.1, which aims to strengthen the planning, investment programming, and budgeting capabilities of the partner cities. The Exposure Trip was a successful endeavor that contributed to the achievement of the Project's objectives and helped to improve the investment climate in the Philippines. The Exposure Trip was a valuable experience for the partner cities, and the lessons learned from the tour will be applied