Relax foreign ownership rule



To address the issue, Chikiamco and Ateneo de Manila University School of Economics Dean Fernando Aldaba agreed that it is “high time” for the government to relax the foreign ownership limitations, which are currently being deliberated in Congress. (READ: Ease foreign restrictions to develop renewable energy – EU ambassador)



“This will allow well-capitalized foreign companies to come here, enabling competition in those sectors and thus lowering the costs of goods and services,” Chikiamco said.



“But investment among local companies are also low,” he added. “In fact, telecommunications are dominated by foreign players, but they do layering like Globe [Telecom, Incorporated] backed by Singtel, and PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company] is just a layer of an Indonesian company."



“How can we attract other foreign companies like AT&T and Verizon? Competition. But under 60-40 rule, they cannot,” Chikiamco pointed out. (READ: Aquino signs PH Competition Act, amended Cabotage law)