Economy

Which areas of economic activity are best positioned to benefit from deepening economic integration among ASEAN economies?

Economic growth and business activity has been historically centred in the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila, a narrow strip sprawling between Laguna Lake on the east and Manila Bay on the west that accounts for nearly 37% of GDP and 13% of the country’s population. As a result, the metropolis, consisting of 16 independent cities...

Relative insulation from China has been a saving grace for the Philippines since 2014, helping sustain high growth rates as most other South-east Asian economies have slowed. Yet the Philippines will continue to be affected by the developing changes in China.

For a concise summary of the Philippines’ plans and aspirations for its economic future, the Cebu Action Plan (CAP) is probably the best place to start – even though it is aimed at a much broader area than the Philippines.

With GDP growth coming in at 5.8% for 2015, after averaging 6.2% from 2010-14, the Philippine economy is establishing a record of stable high growth rates. Markets have recently been focusing on short-term downside risks emanating from slowing growth in China and South-east Asia, and the Philippines’ farm and food-processing sectors were hit...

The Philippines is composed of over 7000 islands, out of which only approximately 2000 are inhabited, lying in the western Pacific Ocean. The nation is south of Taiwan and east of Vietnam, bounded in the west by the South China Sea and in the south by the Sulu and Celebes Seas. Given its complex history, marked by successive waves of human...