March 14, 2017
WELCOME REMARKS
ERNESTO M. PERNIA
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary
3rd ASEAN-OECD Good Regulatory Practice Network Meeting
“Fostering Connectivity and Regional Competitiveness through Good Regulatory Practices”
March 14-16 2017
Iloilo Convention Center, Iloilo City
Mr. Mark Steel,
Mr. Datu Jayasiri Jayasena,
Mr. Faisal Naru,
Ms. Celine Kauffman,
Distinguished delegates,
Esteemed participants,
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
On behalf of the National Economic and Development Authority, welcome to the third ASEAN-OECD Good Regulatory Practice Network Meeting, and welcome to the Philippines.
Before I begin, allow me to briefly go over what transpired during the last two GRPN meetings.
The first ASEAN-OECD meeting on Good Regulatory Practice, which was held in 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, brought together 40 senior policy officials from both APEC and OECD member countries. That meeting allowed governments to discuss how to advance Good Regulatory Practice across ASEAN. There were various proposed future activities, which included the recommendation to implement regulatory impact analysis.
On its second meeting last year in Vientiane, Lao, the ASEAN-OECD GRP Network presented a proposal of a two-year project to investigate the linkages between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and global value chains in Southeast Asia. It brought particular focus on analyzing trade, investment, and regulatory policies. The proposal was met with strong support from delegates, with a strong consensus that good regulatory practice is fundamental in the ASEAN region. The meeting gathered 50 delegates from around the ASEAN and OECD regions.
Now that we are gathered again for the third ASEAN-OECD GRPN meeting, we shall further examine opportunities and strategies on how to implement good regulatory practices to help the overarching strategic aims of the ASEAN. This includes fostering connectivity in the region by addressing regulatory barriers faced by ASEAN SMEs, building synergies to integrate them with global value chains, and simplifying administrative processes.
In our effort to further the good regulatory practice agenda in the country, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) of the Philippines has begun an initiative to systematically study the relevance of existing regulations. This is called Project REPEAL, which will be further explained later by Mr. Guillermo Luz, who is NCC Co-Chairman. With Project REPEAL, government agencies, organizations and individuals are called to submit specific laws or rules that people find burdensome and unnecessary. These are reviewed by a technical working group, and submitted back to agencies for proper action.
Thirty-two agencies have already joined this project, thus far. A total of 22,599 rules and regulations have been submitted for review, of which 3,765 have already been acted on.
This is just one of several initiatives to further the GRP agenda in the country. I hope we take our time to share common challenges and best practices on how we can foster regulatory excellence in the ASEAN region.
I wish everyone fruitful and dynamic dialogues ahead, as we discuss how we can promote connectivity across our countries, strengthen foreign direct investments, and encourage businesses to innovate, export, and grow. I hope also that by the end of the workshops, we will also all have a deeper understanding of regulatory challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs, and provide a platform to address issues to support the emergence of a good regulatory environment–one that facilitates their integration into global value chains.
I would like to take this time to thank the organizers of this three-day meeting. They have done a very good job, so we wish to thank them warmly. My warmest thanks as well to the speakers, resource persons, and delegates who will be with us for the next three days. Thank you for your time and your contributions.
Together, we shall work towards a more connected, a more competitive ASEAN region.
May you all have a pleasant stay in Iloilo. Thank you very much!
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