Philippines

SOCIETY & ETIQUETTE: Very few Philippine business customs will surprise anyone accustomed to doing business in the US or other Western markets. Handshakes are standard for both men and women, while the exchange of business cards is fairly informal. However, if meeting with a high-ranking government...

Taxes in the Philippines are imposed at the national and local levels. At the national level, taxes are imposed and collected pursuant to the National Internal Revenue Code, the Tariff and Customs Code, and several special laws. There are four main types of national internal revenue taxes: income, indirect (value-added and percentage taxes), excise...

The subject of foreign corporations doing business in the Philippines is perhaps better understood in the context of their involvement in the flow of capital, goods and services into the country. In this context, a business is a vehicle through which such a flow is carried out by the foreign corporation concerned.

With a wide array of TV stations, newspapers, magazines, billboards and, more recently, mobile- and computer-accessible platforms, the media sector in the Philippines is experiencing steady growth, with a range of opportunities on offer for those willing to get involved in this dynamic and developing market. Television looks set to remain dominant...

Social networking and the rise of portable internet-friendly devices like tablets and smartphones are opening up new avenues for media and advertising. But the market remains far from saturated and has the advantage of a sizeable youth demographic: figures from the 2007 census put the median age at 22 years old, with 46.1% of the population under...

Improving access to health care across the country is a priority not just for the government, but also increasingly for private sector providers. Given that spending on health care is low – just $129 per person in 2009, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) – providers see a chance to tap into a wider population segment with cost-...