Trade & Investment
From The Report: Philippines 2018
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Foreign direct investment in the Philippines hit an all-time high in 2017, bolstered by robust GDP growth, favourable demographics and the manufacturing segment, with inflows from Japan, Europe and China rising steadily in recent years. An ongoing geopolitical shift could have a profound impact on trade and investment in the Philippines, with the government increasingly turning to China as a favoured bilateral partner, and relations with the US, an important historical trade and investment partner, cooling since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in June 2016. The Philippines benefits from a diversified export market, with rising regional trade ties and strong demand from the EU, its second-largest export market, expected to maintain stability even as US investment in the country may ease. This chapter contains a viewpoint from Steven Ciobo, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment of Australia; and an interview with Ramon M Lopez, Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Diversified market: Manufacturing to drive continued expansion amid uncertainty surrounding regulatory reforms
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Rapid macroeconomic growth has worked to strengthen trade and investment in the Philippines. Build, Build, Build (BBB) – the government’s infrastructure development agenda – is supporting soaring imports, while the fast-growing manufacturing export base remains an economic mainstay. However, export revenue has failed to keep pace with import growth, leading to a record trade deficit in 2017. Foreign direct investment (FDI) hit an alltime high in 2017, bolstered by robust GDP growth,…

Analysis

In the zone: New rules are changing the role of economic zones
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Benefitting from decades of investment and rising investor appetite for manufacturing projects, economic zones in the Philippines have risen to become an important export promotion tool and investment destination. Economic zone growth has soared in recent years, with the government’s Investment Priorities Plan, approved in 2017, offering incentives such as duty-free capital goods imports, corporate and income tax reductions, value-added tax (VAT) and tariff exemptions, and streamlined import and…

Interview

Ready for competition: Ramon M Lopez, Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), on the Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy (i3S)
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Interview:Ramon M Lopez How will the i3S address the potential challenges that come from globalisation and digitalisation? RAMON LOPEZ: The i3S aims to transform the Philippine economy in the new digital age. With this strategy, we are ready to face the challenges brought about by free trade arrangements, regional production networks, global value chains and Industry 4.0. To achieve this transformation, the i3S highlighted competition, productivity and innovation as drivers of industrial…