Economy

As a result of the election of President Rodrigo Duterte in mid-2016, decentralisation and countryside development have been put on the Philippines’ immediate national agenda. Metro Manila faces an unsustainable traffic congestion problem, which a 2014 study by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, in conjunction with the National...

SOCIETY & ETIQUETTE: Philippine business customs are similar to those prevailing in the West. Handshakes are standard for both men and women, in formal and informal occasions, while the exchange of business cards is fairly informal. However, if meeting with a high-ranking government official or...

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The Philippines is keen to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the wake of robust macroeconomic growth, aiming to catch up to its regional neighbours by enacting legal, economic and tax reforms that should see new investment in the country take off. While some of these reforms have been delayed, revisions to the country’s Foreign...

Strong macroeconomic expansion, rising consumer incomes and soaring import demand has kept trade volumes in the Philippines on a consistent upwards trajectory over the past decade. However, the country remains in trade deficit, with exports faltering in recent years as a result of external challenges such as low global commodity prices;...

Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) comprise 99.6% of all businesses in the Philippines, employ 65% of its workforce and account for 35% of GDP, they face a host of growth challenges including lack of technical capacity, difficulty in accessing regional markets in ASEAN and, most notably, lack of access to finance. While the...