By Sarwell Meniano
TACLOBAN CITY – The establishment of the green lane in Northern Samar is poised to attract increased investments to the economically challenged province by simplifying business application procedures.
According to Jhon Allen Berbon, head of the Northern Samar Provincial Economic Development and Investment Promotions Office, the initiative, formally known as the Northern Samar One-Stop-Action Center for Strategic Investment, introduces a streamlined approach to acquiring business permits and licenses in the province.
“Through these streamlined processes, Northern Samar aims to diminish bureaucratic obstacles and enhance efficiency, positioning the province as a prime destination for investment opportunities in the region,” Berbon stated in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Berbon said they have also been capacitating business permit and licensing officers and the local economic development and investment promotion officers in the province to take an active role in driving economic growth and facilitating investment in Northern Samar.
The Board of Investments earlier lauded Northern Samar for establishing a one-stop shop in the province that will result in the creation of an efficient and investor-friendly process for obtaining business permits and licenses at the town and village levels by having one point of transaction through the provincial capitol.
Recently, the province has been attracting major investments, particularly in the areas of renewable energy and digital infrastructure.
Among these are the common cell sites project by Philtower Consortium, the offshore wind power project by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Aboitiz Infrastructure, and the tidal energy project by Energies PH Inc., the first of its kind in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
The green lanes for strategic investments were established through Executive Order No. 18, which was approved by the Office of the President in February last year.
Green lanes aim to hasten, simplify, and automate the permit and license application processes for strategic investments in the Philippines. (PNA)
