Philippines

The health situation in the Philippines is similar to that of a number of emerging economies, with communicable diseases having fallen in past decades but “lifestyle” factors like obesity and smoking causing an upsurge in cardiovascular disease and cancer. Spending on health is lower than in some neighbouring countries, but the government’s Philhealth programme is seeking to expand coverage...

Education in the Philippines suffers from chronic funding shortfalls, but budgets have risen significantly in the past several years, suggesting increased government recognition of the problem, though there is a ways to go yet. The addition of two more years of school will bring the Philippines in line with the rest of the world, but without additional money it could be an exchange of quality for...

Plans for agriculture in the Philippines include making the world’s largest rice consumer, which currently imports the staple, self-sufficient. Multi-million dollar irrigation projects are currently underway to help achieve this goal, while a National Irrigation Administration is seeking to teach farmers sustainable irrigation techniques. The government is also pushing farmers to adopt more...

Though the Philippines lags behind in several measures of technology penetration, scoring 36 out of 100 in a World Economic Forum report on “network readiness”, internet cafes are plentiful and Filipinos have the highest Facebook usage rate in the world. This drives the market for online games, which are very popular with the Philippines’ substantial young population. Software in general is...

Mining companies have flocked to these islands for years to take advantage of the country’s vast mineral resources. The Philippines ranks third in gold reserves, fourth in copper, and fifth in nickel worldwide. However, an upsurge in anti-mining and environmental awareness has contributed to a difficult regulatory environment, with some jurisdictions imposing local mining bans. Investment in the...

The construction sector looks set to benefit from a major PPP initiative that should see its first big projects go to tender in 2012. Meanwhile, Manila is seeing robust growth, and the BPO boom is driving office development in Cebu City and beyond. There is demand for housing at all incomes levels, and while developers have typically focused on the high-margin luxury housing, affordable housing...