Country Profile
From The Report: Philippines 2014
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With a complex history marked by successive waves of migration and periods of colonisation and occupation, the Philippines is home to a host of ethnicities and languages across its roughly 1000 inhabited islands. It is the 12th-most populous country in the world, with a population expected to reach 99.43m by 2014, according to the IMF. The Philippines has plentiful natural resources. An estimated 30% of its total land area is believed to contain metallic mineral deposits, including nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, and copper, largely as a result of its volcanic history. Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the central Philippines in early November 2013, caused extensive damage and left 5000 people dead and 4.2m displaced. The challenges thus remain significant, although the country is now experiencing a renewed optimism and greater stability than it has seen for many years.
This chapter contains interviews with President Benigno Aquino III; Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General, ASEAN; Hugo Swire MP, UK Minister of State for the Foreign Office; and Bui Quang Vinh, Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Taking strides: Progress has been made towards resolving regional issues, but more work remains to be done
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A diverse country with an intriguing history, the Philippines today is a multi-party, democratic republic, open to foreign investment, and integrated within the regional and international political and economic community. The presidency of Benigno S Aquino III, begun in 2010, has seen continued economic growth and some important breakthroughs in long-standing local conflicts. Mid-term elections were held for both houses of the legislature in 2013, along with gubernatorial and local ballots…

Interview

OBG talks to President Benigno Aquino III
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Interview:President Benigno Aquino III How can the Philippines translate the current economic momentum into inclusive growth? PRESIDENT BENIGNO AQUINO: Inclusive growth and poverty alleviation can be achieved in two ways: increasing the opportunities available and maximising human capital capacity so that employees can take advantage of those opportunities and take hold of their own destinies. This is the idea behind our massive investments in social services. For example, our flagship conditional…

Interview

OBG talks to Hugo Swire MP, UK Minister of State for the Foreign Office
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Interview:Hugo Swire To what extent could the Philippines-UK Joint Plan of Action (JPA) and Air Services Agreement enhance relations between both nations? HUGO SWIRE: The JPA will help shape the business environment and strengthen trade and investment opportunities between our two countries. At its core is support for our mutual prosperity. That means working together to boost competitiveness, promote free trade and tackle corruption. It will also bring businesses to each other’s markets…

Interview

OBG talks to Bui Quang Vinh, Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment
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Interview:Bui Quang Vinh What is Vietnam’s strategy for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in value-added sectors? BUI QUANG VINH: FDI has played an important role in the development of Vietnam’s economy. Our current priority is to attract high value-added projects, particularly in manufacturing and processing, two areas where FDI already accounts for more than 53% of total capital investment. In recent years, the number of high-tech and high-value projects in Vietnam has been…

Overview

Eye on the islands: Abundant biodiversity, natural resources and a young population draw growing interest from investors
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An archipelago of 7107 islands, the Republic of the Philippines lies south of Taiwan and east of Vietnam, and is bounded in the west by the South China Sea and in the south by the Sulu and Celebes Seas. With a complex history marked by successive waves of migration and periods of colonisation and occupation, the Philippines is home to a host of ethnicities and languages across its roughly 1000 inhabited islands. In the decades since the Philippines gained independence in 1946, its history…