Philippines

With strong economic growth and an expanding portfolio of business opportunities, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Philippines has been rising steadily in recent years, reaching a record high in 2017. However, a fall in FDI the following year indicates that maintaining investor interest is dependent on a variety of factors, including a...

The Philippines is a key bridge between the Americas and Asia, making it a natural conduit for global trade flows. The country also has some of the strongest economic growth rates in the Asia-Pacific region, with growth at 6% or more for 16 out of the 20 quarters between 2014 and March 2019.

The year 2019 marks the halfway point of President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year term in office, following his inauguration in June 2016. The Philippines’ GDP has increased by more than 6% per year since 2012, making inclusive growth and the reduction of income inequality top priorities for the current administration.

Spanning more than 300,000 sq km, the Republic of the Philippines reaches from Taiwan in the north to Indonesia in the south. In terms of territorial size, it is the fourth-largest country in South-east Asia after Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand. Bordered by the South China Sea in the west and the Sulu and Celebes seas in the south, the...

President Rodrigo Duterte emerged invigorated from the May 2019 mid-term elections after his party dominated the polls, marking an endorsement of his policies and the administration’s performance since 2016. Nine out of 12 Senate seats were won by pro-Duterte candidates, with the remaining three taken by independents. The ballot gave the...

While 2018 is unlikely to be remembered as a period of cooperation on global trade, the year did end on a note of cautious optimism for its advocates when, at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, the US declared a 90-day truce in its 10-month-long trade war with China. Observers hoped that this ceasefire would endure beyond the proposed three-month...