When the British bank HSBC released its economic growth forecast recently, it gave a better forecast for the Philippines compared to other markets in Asia. HSBC sees that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will stay at a healthy 6.5 percent, the same as the bank’s growth projection for China. For the whole of Asia, HSBC projects a 5.8-percent growth for 2017.
This is important information, especially in the face of economic changes and challenges, both locally and in the international arena. It shows that the current government, despite criticisms against some of its policies and actions, is moving toward the direction of securing economic gains for the country.
Economist Joseph Incalcaterra stated in the HSBC report that “the economic outlook for the Philippines [is] underpinned by resilient domestic demand [and that] a number of reforms, including tax reforms and other constitutional reforms, will likely be undertaken in 2017.”
He added that, despite the “headwinds on the horizon for the regional economy”, the country’s local economy “remains relatively insulated”. The economist mentioned that the Philippines’s new agreements with fresh markets, like China, could partly offset the effects of the new economic policies of the United States under the Trump administration. The US is the largest contributor of foreign direct investment in the Philippines, and it is feared that investments would fall because of these new economic policies.
For his part, President Duterte has been busy going around and building economic ties with new markets, such as China, Russia and, very recently, Japan. In the news most recently is the visit of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Philippines, both to Manila and Davao City, making him the first head of state to be hosted by Duterte in Davao. He brought with him top executives from major Japanese companies, like Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Itochu, Sumitomo, Toyota, Sumifru, Mizuho, and the Nakayama Japanese Chamber. There were also officials from Chodai, Kirin, Tsuneishi, Tokyo Gas, Ichijo, Hitachi, Nakayama Technologies, a gas company and an engineering services company.
The visit resulted in what Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez describes as “the biggest pledge so far from any country during the Duterte administration”. The pledge is actually an investment package close to $9 billion, which, according to Lopez, may actually be even higher than China’s pledge of about $6 billion in official development assistance and $3 billion in financial facility.
The Department of Trade and Industry is opening opportunities for Japanese investors in five priority areas: manufacturing, infrastructure and logistics, tourism, services and agribusiness. For manufacturing, this will specifically be in electronic-manufacturing services, automotive and auto parts, aerospace parts, chemicals, shipbuilding, tool and die, furniture and garments, power, and transport and logistics.
Lopez added that the Japanese businessmen could also be looking into construction and nonvoice services in the business-process management industry. They could also be tapping into the game-development industry, engineering design in manufacturing, software development and shared services. For agribusiness, there is mention of cacao, coffee, mangoes, bananas, coconuts, rubber, bamboo, fruits and nuts, palm oil and other high-value crops.
2 comments
Sana everybody can feel the country’s good economy but not much has changed even though the news is always praising the Philippine economy.
rome wasnt built in a day my friend