THE European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) said foreign contractors remain barred from government projects by guidelines set by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The chamber said the Philippine Construction Accreditation Board (PCAB) on the other hand licenses foreign contractors to participate in privately funded projects.

The issue was raised before the House committee on economic affairs, which tackled foreign participation in the construction industry.

PCAB Executive Director Herbert D.G. Matienzo said foreign companies that hold a Quadruple A license are allowed to bid in public-private partnerships (PPPs), build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects, and international competitive bidding (ICB) projects provided that they have P1 billion in equity and invest P3 billion for vertical projects and P5 billion for horizontal projects.

However, ECCP’s advocacy manager Kareen Enriquez said: “A reading of DTI guidelines would reveal that foreign entities with a Quadruple A license are only allowed to undertake private and not government-funded projects. So even with P1 billion capital equity, we are still not allowed under DTI guidelines.”

Guenter Taus, president of the ECCP, added that the case is not that “simple.”

“If you look at the markets, and you say it yourself, there’s no restriction — again, there are restrictions because (licensing) is just for one project. So you would have for each contract to apply for (a new license). Some companies have been doing that for years and again, it does not mean that you open up the industry to foreign players with certain restrictions,” Mr. Taus said.

This article was originally published on January 31, 2018 on BusinessWorldOnline.com»