Philippines

From expansion of 18.4% in the last quarter of 2012 to 32% in the first quarter of 2013, the construction industry has shown consistent double-digit growth of late. According to the Philippine Development Plan 2011-16, the government intends to increase infrastructure spending to almost 5% of GDP by 2016. Rapid urbanisation and the pace of construction are likely to add to increasing demand for...

As the government pursues its infrastructure development programme, real growth in the sector is expected to reach 5.9% per annum between 2013 and 2017. Backed by a favourable macroeconomic environment, political stability and increased spending, the country’s transport sector is slowly being modernised. In 2013 more than $7.2bn has been budgeted for port, road and rail infrastructure upgrades....

As rich in natural beauty as regional tourism leaders Thailand and Malaysia, the Philippines’ history of under-investment, weak promotion and security troubles has made it one of the least-visited large countries in the area. But the Philippines is pushing hard to develop the potential of its tourism sector. Visitor numbers and revenues have been climbing steadily, though less quickly than those...

Despite growing at an average rate of 2.7% between 2002 and 2012, the manufacturing sector’s share of GDP has been eroded by the rapid growth of other sectors, such as construction and services. Hampered by high energy costs, expensive logistics and low infrastructure investment, the manufacturing’s share of GDP has been declining since 2002 in what the Asian Development Bank has warned could be...

The emergence of new hydrocarbons fields has helped the Philippine energy sector make up for declining output starting in the mid-1990s. While primary energy demand continues to outstrip diminishing domestic production, output from relatively recently exploited reserves are offsetting maturing blocks as the sector looks to implement a strategy of efficiency, diversification and further...

At the end of 2012, the Philippines was home to 79 non-life insurance companies, 29 life insurers and a single reinsurance firm. With a strong history and few limitations and restrictions on foreign investment, the Philippine insurance industry is open, thriving, growing and competitive; however it is widely acknowledged that the sector should be more inclusive, as it currently serves only a...