The world has its eyes on the Philippines and everyone is excited and quite optimistic about the country’s economic climate slowly transforming with some very positive results and more promising prospects. Proof is CNN Special Report’s recent focus on the Philippines where big names in the business sector and the government shared their views on the economic transformation unfolding in the country.
The world is beginning to see the results of hard work put in by the incumbent administration to rid the country of corruption, which has perpetually beleaguered the country. The country’s booming industry which is growing by about 25% – 30% is largely due to the influx of both foreign and local investments to boost the economy. Leading industries are call centres and other BPO services which take up a big chunk of the country’s earnings. It has been a while since the country have seen such an improved industry performance as against rival countries like India. These are world class industries and the Philippines is in the forefront. Indeed, the changes in the political arena are positively influencing the business activities of the country.
Big business leaders are one in saying that the current economic transformation is largely attributed to the certainly and security of the market which is a direct result of a government that earned back the trust of the people. The strength of the peso is one good indicator that the country is gaining economic stability in the course of its political reforms. Foreign and local investors are slowly putting back the investments to the country’s industries showing great potential like infrastructure, manufacturing, tourism and aviation. As business giant Lance Gokongwei puts it, investors, foreign or local “should have real confidence in the economy that would perform well for a sustained period of time to even contemplate on taking on those long-term projects.” And true enough many Filipino businessmen are re-investing in the country for long-term projects.
The confidence in the government is clearly manifested by the Filipino people themselves. People have placed trust in what the government is doing for the economy and in return, people do their share by paying their taxes. Interest rates have gone remarkably low to allow more investors to come in and do their business in the country.
The Philippines has shown superiority over other developing countries in the BPO industries. Unfortunately, tourism is yet to show off but with the right investment on infrastructure which will help the tourism industry, the country is expected to surpass the performance of Thailand in this particular area in five to ten years time. Tourism has already seen significant rise on the charts with more tourists trooping to the country resulting from the combined efforts of the government and business sector in making the country a desirable international destination.
The world has its eyes on the Philippines, now being considered as one of the eleven countries showing full potential and growth. Some business analysts are even positively predicting that this country, previously perceived as the ‘Sick Man of Asia’ will have risen to the challenges and become the 14th largest economy by 2050. And this is not without any basis. The Philippines is the 2nd largest English speaking country in the world and has one of the top 12 populations. The potential for growth is simply put, enormous. And it’s all happening now. The world will be seeing a different Philippines in the very near future.
