Country Profile
From The Report: Philippines 2018
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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 government for the 106.5m-strong country. The administration of former President Benigno Aquino III had implemented changes that saw the Philippines become the fastest-growing economy in Asia as of the end of 2016, eclipsing even China. Sovereign credit rating upgrades, a continuous campaign to promote transparency and robust economic performance elevated the Philippines to a diplomatic, political and economic stature it had not enjoyed for decades. This chapter contains interviews with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte; and Jin Liqun, President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Island nation: A diverse people, geography and culture
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 Spanning more than 300,000 sq km, the Republic of the Philippines has a complex history marked by successive waves of migration and periods of colonisation and occupation. Located south of Taiwan and east of Vietnam, and bounded to the west by the South China Sea and to the south by the Sulu and Celebes Seas, the Philippines is home to some 175 ethnolinguistic groups across its 7641 islands. Since proclaiming independence from the Spanish in 1898 and the US in 1946, the nation has faced successive…

Interview

Equitable progress: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, on federalism, security, supporting overseas foreign workers (OFWs), and Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN)
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Interview:President Rodrigo Roa Duterte What is the ideal timeline for the transition to federalism, and how will it foster inclusive development? RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE: I hope it will be realised before my term ends. The shift to a federal government was one of my most important campaign promises, and I remain committed to it. Federalism will allow us to hasten the development of other parts of our country. By redistributing power from the capital to the regional states, local governments…

Overview

Sea of change: Inclusive growth and infrastructure development are key goals of the current administration
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 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, who served for seven terms and over 22 years as mayor of Davao City on the island of Mindanao, won the May 2016 elections by a wide margin, ushering in a period of widespread change through the executive and legislative branches of government for the 106.5m-strong country. The administration of former President Benigno Aquino III had implemented…

Interview

Financing the future: Jin Liqun, President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), on supporting forward-thinking ASEAN infrastructure
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Interview:Jin Liqun, President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) How do you see AIIB supporting infrastructure development in ASEAN in the coming years? JIN LIQUN: ASEAN countries were some of the first to join AIIB, and we greatly appreciate their support. We have already begun investing in ASEAN infrastructure, including projects in Myanmar and Indonesia. As a multilateral development bank we can play a number of different roles in infrastructure project financing, and as a new…

Interview

Financing the future: Jin Liqun, President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), on supporting forward-thinking ASEAN infrastructure
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Interview:Jin Liqun, President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) How do you see AIIB supporting infrastructure development in ASEAN in the coming years? JIN LIQUN: ASEAN countries were some of the first to join AIIB, and we greatly appreciate their support. We have already begun investing in ASEAN infrastructure, including projects in Myanmar and Indonesia. As a multilateral development bank we can play a number of different roles in infrastructure project financing, and as a new…

Analysis

On the road: China’s Belt and Road Initiative is reshaping South-east Asia
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 Hailed by Chinese President Xi Jinping as “the project of the century”, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promises to radically transform a vast swathe of the world’s trade and transport infrastructure. In doing so, it may also have a marked impact on the way Asia does business with the world and vice versa. Historical Precedent While it is a relatively new idea, the BRI also harks back to medieval times, when the Silk Road flowed between East and West. The Silk Road was a series of…