BAGUIO CITY – The Philippines will be the top retirement and investment haven by the year 2019 once the government shall have significantly improved its services for foreign retirees wanting to spend their retirement in strategic places in the country, a senior official of the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) said here recently.
(See also: PRA to upgrade services for retirees)
Lawyer Bienvenido Chy, PRA general manager, said to date, there are already 47,600 foreign retirees in the different parts of the country and government plans to double the said figure in the next two to three years depending on how the PRA will be able to market the country to the foreign retirees.
He revealed the top foreign retirees in the country include Chinese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Indians, Japanese among other Southeast Asian nationals who now enjoy staying in various parts of the country enjoying the scenery and the warm welcome of the Filipinos.
“We believe we can reverse the country’s standing as a retirement and investment haven through our introduction of the needed innovations to the services that we offer and the aggressive marketing we will do to the prospective foreign retirees,” Chy stressed.
The PRA official added the Philippines currently ranks 17th among the existing retirement and investment havens in the different parts of the globe, thus, the need for the government to make an overhaul of the country’s existing retirement programs to help in bringing back the vibrance of the country’s foreign retirement policy.
According to Chy, the country already has the natural beauty that entices foreign retirees to visit the different tourist destinations and what needs to be done is to design attractive retirement packages for the appreciation of interested retirees.
He admitted the potentials of the country becoming a retirement and investment haven had been overlooked by the previous administrators of the PRA, thus, he will introduce the necessary innovations that will make foreign retirees an integral part of the country’s robust economic growth in the next several years.
Chy believes by improving the existing packages being offered for foreign retirees, there will be an upsurge of foreign retirees wanting to reside in the city, and in other prime tourist destinations such as Cebu, Davao, Clark, and Subic.
Chy claimed numerous foreign retirees have expressed a desire to retire in the country because of the scenic tourist destinations, the hospitable people and the good food that is why the agency is now making the necessary adjustments in the relevant visa and strengthening the different satellite offices to serve better the needs of the retirees.
He said the country’s existing tourist spots coupled with the semi-temperate weather around the archipelago makes it a good destination for the retirees and their families.
By HENT