Asia Economy

With some 7641 islands inhabited by 175 ethnolinguistic groups, the Philippines is one of the most diverse and geographically fragmented countries on earth. The modern Philippines has thus long been faced with the challenge of uniting these multiple groups within a single nation, while also allowing local and regional communities to prosper. The year ahead will likely see the latest chapter in...

Ranking consistently among the top global providers of business process outsourcing, the Philippines is now undertaking a significant widening and deepen¬ing of its portfolio of third-party services. The sector has begun its transition to higher-skilled and more value-added operations, while also adapting to the challenge of new technologies such as artificial intel¬ligence and robotic process...

With GDP growth averaging 6.4% between 2010 and 2017, the Philippines is home to one of the top-performing economies in South-east Asia. Buoyed by its robust services sector, the economy has remained strong due to rising investment in manufacturing projects, strong remittance inflows from overseas workers and an infrastructure-spending surge under the government’s Build, Build, Build...

Elections in June 2016 saw President Rodrigo Duterte assume his six-year term as the 16th president of the Republic of the Philippines. President Duterte won the May 2016 elections by a wide margin to become the first president from Mindanao, the country’s southernmost and second-largest island, ushering in a period of widespread change through the executive and legislative branches of...

This chapter offers a selection of hotels for business and leisure, facts for travelers, and contacts for state agencies, foreign embassies and other important listings.