Philippines: Lifting of the ban on foreign capital in rice, and corn sectors pushed

Published Sep 6, 2022

Tridge summary

The Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) has urged the 19th Congress of the Philippines to lift the ban on foreign investments in the rice and corn sectors. This move is aimed at enhancing the production of these staple foods and attracting more capital into the country. The FEF emphasized that the Rice and Corn Law of 1973, which regulates foreign participation in these industries, has limited foreign investment and poses a threat to companies using rice and corn as raw materials. The organization believes that opening these sectors to foreign capital will lead to job creation, increased market competition, and improved accessibility and affordability of rice and corn for the Filipino public.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Lifting of ban on foreign investments in rice and corn sectors in the country has been pushed in light of the need to develop and improve production of these two staple commodities of Filipinos. In a statement, the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) has called on the 19th Congress to build on its momentum to attract more capital into the country by removing foreign investment restrictions in the critical rice and corn sectors – staple commodities of the Filipino food basket. As far back as 1960, FEF said that by virtue of the Rice and Corn Nationalization Law (RA No. 3018), non-Filipinos were prohibited from participating in the rice and corn industries. In 1973, through the Rice and Corn Law (PD No. 194), efforts were made to reduce this restriction by allowing the entry of foreign persons or entities in the said sectors to promote a national effort to develop the domestic rice and corn industry, especially in cases where grains, including rice and corn and/or by-products ...

Source: Mb