Malacañang downplayed Thursday the Philippines being ranked among Asian countries with the most inefficient bureaucracies, saying that foreign businesses won’t flourish in the country if bureaucratic red tape persists.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson and Press Undersecretary Rogelio Peyuan said the Arroyo government, even in the last days in power, kept its promise to stem red tape and to encourage more foreign investors.

“If we have bad standing in our fight against red tape, foreign investments won’t come in and our business sectors won’t continue to thrive,” Peyuan told reporters.

In its survey, Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) said the Philippines, Indonesia and India have the most inefficient bureaucracies in the Southeast Asian region.

“Well, before giving us such ranking, they should first stay in the Philippines to know what is the real situation on the ground,” Peyuan said.

Out of the 12 Asian countries branded as having most inefficient bureaucracies, the Philippines ranked third with a score of 8.37, followed by Vietnam (8.13) and China (7.93). India ranked first with a score of 9.41, followed by Indonesia with 8.59.

Peyuan said that all government agencies, including the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Office of the Ombudsman, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), are all ready to accept all complaints about bureaucratic red tape. He also urged the public not to use “fixers” in transacting with government offices.

The PERC said the Philippines “goes through the motion” of weeding out the stigma of red tape, “but nothing has really made a dent in the problem.”

It noted that the fixers are well-entrenched in the country’s bureaucracy.