[ Published by : manilastandardtoday.com ]
February 6, 2008
PRESIDENT Arroyo has directed the Philippine Retirement Authority to step up activities toward making the Philippines a retirement haven and help attract more foreign investments.
Mrs. Arroyo said the PRA should find ways to boost the growth of the booming retirement industry in the Philippines, noting the world’s graying population is rapidly increasing.
President Arroyo pointed out that the Philippines is in a very good position to take advantage of this potential because we have the facilities and the manpower.
“As one of the flagship projects of the Philippine government, I want PRA to boost its efforts to develop and promote the Philippines as a retirement haven and contribute to the increase of foreign investments,” she said.
The PRA reported that its unaudited financial statements for 2007 reveal that gross income for the year was P264.9 million while net income reached P90.2 million.
Since its inception in 1984, PRA has contributed a total of P519.6 million to the National Treasury—P231.7 million representing income tax and P287.9 million in dividends.
The enrolment of 2,620 principal retirees and dependents in 2007 is expected to generate 10,480 jobs based on a conservative estimate of four workers per principal retiree, the PRA said.
Studies reveal that by the year 2015, there will be 425.6 million retirees in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Europe and the United States.
“To tap into this huge market, the PRA chose a highly targeted niche using a nine-point integrated business model that includes housing, health care, lifestyle services, transportation, management, human resources, safety and security, insurance and finance,” PRA chairman Edgar Aglipay said.
The PRA has recently signed memoranda of agreement with the city of Baguio and the Belo Medical Group to further attract retirees to the Philippines.
Under the agreement, the city of Baguio will promote the retirement program to interested foreigners and Filipinos who lived abroad.
The city will also provide assistance in the processing of applications, either for the Special Resident Retiree Visa or Associate memberships. Likewise, the city will actively participate in PRA projects and provide the PRA with an office.
In return, PRA will provide marketing collaterals for free, speed up retiree applications duly endorsed by the office of the mayor and pay remunerations due the city for every successful regular and associate member-enrollees of $250 and $30 or its peso equivalent.
The PRA is also pursuing partnerships with the private sector such as the Belo Medical Group Inc. As a Merchant Partner, BMG will grant PRA retiree-members or booked/endorsed prospective PRA members or guests and PRA employees with discounts on selected services.
Some of these procedures include contouring facial; glycopeel cleaning; pan germinal rejuvenation; carbon dioxide laser; collagen induction therapy; and versapulse.
The BMG will also offer PRA members discounts for cash and card transactions.
The PRA said these initiatives are in line with Executive Order 372 which acknowledges the invaluable support of local government units and other stakeholders in marketing the retirement program.
The agreement with the city of Baguio is the latest addition to a growing number of PRA program advocates. In 2007, the PRA inked similar agreements with Angeles City, Subic, and Cebu City.
As part of efforts to aggressively promote its services, PRA has also made available online processing of retiree applications via the its Web site (www.pra.gov.ph) to speed up customer service response time.
The online transaction reduces the time-consuming manual filing of documents and application forms. With downloadable forms and easy-to-use features, qualified retirees can quickly apply for an SRRV. Roy Pelovello
[ Published by : manilastandardtoday.com ] February 6, 2008
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