Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, said that as the Philippine economy continues its growth, the country will produce more Filipino billionaires.
“As the economy prospers, yes. But the key thing is incomes across the board in this country will continue to rise, and that will show the world that this will be a model. You can have a good political system and good economic growth and I think that model is badly needed these days,” Forbes told ANC's Cathy Yang in an exclusive interview at the sidelines of the 15th Forbes Global CEO Conference on Monday.
The prestigious conference is being held in the Philippines for the first time, bringing together some of the world's wealthiest entrepreneurs.
"It’s a very appropriate one...The Philippines is a tiger now in terms of Asian economies. Other economies around the world seem to be slowing down, getting in trouble. Philippines still has a full head of steam and looks like you’re going to continue that in the future, so we want to be where the action is,” said Forbes.
Forbes said the Philippines will continue to experience growth due to reforms, which he also expects to continue despite a change in government next year.
Currently, the richest billionaires in the Philippines have a combined net worth of nearly $50 billion (P2.3 trillion).
In the latest Forbes' 50 richest Filipinos list, 17 entrepreneurs from the Philippines breached the $1 billion-mark. SM's Henry Sy is the country's richest man with a net worth of $14.4 billion.
For its latest global rich list, Forbes listed a record 1,826 billionaires, including 11 well-known tycoons from the Philippines and one young Filipino-American tech entrepreneur.
'SLASH TAXES'
Forbes will be having a one-on-one meeting with President Aquino on Wednesday, and he said he will be saying one thing to the President: slash taxes.
Forbes believes that the country's tax system needs improvement, stressing that government has room to lower corporate and income tax rates without risking losing revenues.
“That’s how you get a vibrant economy. Everyone comes out ahead. When you have a bigger economy, a more vibrant economy, you get more revenues, so the government does well. But key thing is that people do well, the economy does well,” he said, noting that a simplified tax system is one way to get more revenues.
"When you make it easy to collect, and have a low rate where people don’t have to focus on trying to avoid it, good things happen,” he added.
The Philippines has the highest income tax rate in the ASEAN region with the personal income tax at 32 percent.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
