Senate OKs bill amending retail trade liberalization law

The Senate building at the GSIS Complex in Pasay City. (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate on Wednesday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to lower the required paid-up capital for foreign retail enterprises before they can enter the Philippine market.

Voting 20-0-0, the upper chamber passed Senate Bill No. 1840, which seeks to amend the Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000, in a bid to open up the economy to more foreign investors.

The current retail trade law requires foreign retailers to have a minimum paid-up capital investment of $2.5 million before they can enter the country’s market.

Under the bill, senators agreed to lower that requirement to only P50 million or approximately $1 million.

The amount initially proposed under the measure was $300,000, but Senator President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto suggested an amendment to raise the said amount, which was accepted by the bill’s sponsor, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, chairperson of the chamber’s trade committee.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier certified as urgent the passage of the said bill, along with two other measures seen to help the country’s economy to recover from the effects inflicted by the pandemic.

JPV