Related Publications

Doing Business in the Philippines is a publication that aims to provide the potential investors with a complete guidebook of information on the country, its laws, policies, procedures, as well as its regulations. The guide aims to increase investor confidence and equip them with the ability to make well-informed business and investment decisions. Some of the topics include taxation, employment, immigration, and dispute resolution among others.

The World Investment Report supports policymakers by monitoring global and regional foreign direct investment trends and documenting national and international
investment policy developments.

For each country, we provide competitiveness trends, country evolution, strengths and weaknesses as well as all statistical data, including more than 330 criteria (values).

Physical and mental health is vital to post-pandemic recovery. The theme chapter in this report explores wellness, or the deliberate pursuit of activities that bring holistic health.

This publication analyzes public–private partnership arrangements in the Philippines and their critical role in increasing infrastructure investment requirements.

This report examines developing Asia’s infrastructure—defined as transport, power, telecommunications, water supply and sanitation. It examines how much the region has been investing in infrastructure and what will likely be needed through 2030.

The rise of ridesharing firms such as Uber, Didi, Grab and Lyft over the last eight years has introduced a new mode of transport to commuters around the world. Though still nascent in Asia, ridesharing has already begun to influence the transport landscape. It has the potential to become an important part of the response to growing transport needs in the region.

Remittances to low- and middle-income countries are on course to recover in 2017 after two consecutive years of decline.

Dear NordCham members and friends,

As 2017 is foreseen as another year of strong GDP growth of ca. 7% in the Philippine economy, NordCham is a committed partner to the private and public sector in realizing the bullish growth targets and development plans. Taking office in mid-2016, the new Duterte administration has come out strong with its ten point socio-economic agenda, setting the tone for reform and further development for the upcoming years.

The total ODA portfolio as of December 2019 amounted to USD21.62 billion, consisting of 84 loans worth USD19.98 billion (92% of the total portfolio), and 268 grants worth USD1.64 billion (8% of the total portfolio).

This report builds on national reviews of seven countries in Southeast Asia. It looks at common challenges across the region and at the interplay between regional initiatives and national reforms. It allows for a discussion of more thematic issues than are usually considered in the country-level reviews, including the possible role of regional initiatives in driving reform.

This report analyses Philippine agricultural policy. Agriculture provides 30% of total employment in the Philippines and represents 11% of its Gross Domestic Product. The Philippines has had notable recent overall economic success, yet improving agricultural performance remains challenging. Productivity growth lags behind other Southeast Asian countries, and a number of policy distortions hinder progress. With agricultural land resources also under pressure from frequent natural disasters, rising population and urbanisation, the report offers a series of recommendations to improve the sector’s performance and its ability to adapt to climate change.

Since embarking on a program of inclusive growth and poverty reduction under the Philippine Development Plan 2011-20161, the Philippines has gradually transformed from being the economic laggard in Asia to one of the region’s best-performing economies.

The evolution of Global Value Chains (GVCs) significantly changed how global trade and industry worked. GVCs led to a fragmented production process where producers capitalized on comparative advantages across regional supply chains. This fragmentation allowed developing economies to participate in the production process, which eventually led to an economic growth backed by the creation of domestic jobs, foreign currency inflows, poverty reduction, and access to information. Sustaining this GVC-led economic growth will not only ensure that the economy continues to attract investments but will also push local firms to become globally more competitive (Duke CGGC 2016).

Despite various reform efforts over the years, the tax system in the Philippines continues to suffer from chronic weaknesses. Tax rates are high relative to the country’s ASEAN neighbors, yet revenue productivity remains low. Filipino individual taxpayers are overburdened by personal income tax brackets that have not been indexed to inflation, resulting in bracket creep. The real value of excise tax rates on petroleum products have likewise been eroded by inflation, and the schedule is characterized by a number of exemptions and rates that are low by international standards. The value-added tax base has narrowed from excessive exemptions.

This study evaluates the performance of CARP in the last 30 years using the program’s theory of change. A results chain framework was constructed and the program processes examined drawing from several studies that assessed the implementation and impact of CARP.

Despite several studies exploring innovation activities in the Philippines, no clear answer has been provided to the question of whether having foreign linkages can induce knowledge transfer and innovation. This study probes deeper into the role of foreign linkages to innovation activities of manufacturing firms in the CALABARZON region.

The quality of the Philippine telecommunication/information and communication technology (ICT) regulatory environment is significantly below what is considered international best practice. Using a scoring system developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), where 100 points represent the best possible scenario, the Philippines is only midway toward the ideal with a score of 52.50–second lowest in a group of seven ASEAN members.

he Philippines is the third most disaster-prone country in the world, with an average of 19 typhoons per year (Virola 2009). With this kind of scenario, the need for an effective insurance program for the agricultural sector cannot be overemphasized.

The basic sectors of an economy are agriculture, industry, and services. Of these sectors, agriculture plays an important role in reducing poverty. This is because the said sector employs more than two in every three poor workers in the country today (Briones 2016).

The 2017 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE) is the 32nd in an annual series that highlights significant foreign barriers to U.S. exports. This document is a companion piece to the President’s Trade Policy Agenda published by USTR in March.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is interacting with other socio-economic and demographic factors to create a perfect storm of business model change in all industries, resulting in major disruptions to labour markets. New categories of jobs will emerge, partly or wholly displacing others. The skill sets required in both old and new occupations will change in most industries and transform how and where people work. It may also affect female and male workers differently and transform the dynamics of the industry gender gap. The Future of Jobs Report aims to unpack and provide specific information on the relative magnitude of these trends by industry and geography, and on the expected time horizon for their impact to be felt on job functions, employment levels and skills.

During this time of geopolitical turmoil, when many national governments are unable or unwilling to advance a positive trade and investment agenda, cities are positioned to lead. This study, conducted in partnership with the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA), is a product of original citylevel data analysis1, as well as polling and interviews with WTCA members around the world. These cities constitute in excess of $26.7 trillion, or more than 35 percent of global GDP2, and nearly 1 billion people. Capturing insights from this unique global network of World Trade Centers (WTCs) in more than 300 cities and nearly 100 countries, this analysis seeks to shed light on how global economic trends are shaping trade and investment at the local level and the innovative ways cities are navigating this “new normal,” building global connections to drive local growth.

TheUniversity of the Philippines Diliman #PILIpiLUNAS2022 Governance Agenda seeks to advance sustainable, equitable, participatory, and innovation-driven national development. It is the contribution of the University of the Philippines Diliman Task Force on a Blueprint for Building the Nation, under the Office of the Chancellor, to the national conversation on policy alternatives arising from the disruption caused by the pandemic, on the one hand, and the May 9 national elections, in which the highest positions of the land are at stake, on the other hand.