Philippines as best market to invest in according to Business Insider
According to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the Philippines’ robust and solid macroeconomic foundations combined with the government’s financial reforms enabled the Philippines to lead the list of 20 best countries to invest in this year by Business Insider.
The Philippines outranked countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, and Singapore.
According to Dominguez, one of the reasons why the Philippines topped the list “could be the young and hardworking workforce, an excellent inclusive growth momentum and expanding middle class and politically stable environment.”
Moreover, he cited the strong and famous leadership of President Duterte, an attainable infrastructure program, strong monetary policy, the Philippines’ active membership in ASEAN, robust anti-corruption drive and improved revenue collection as reasons why the Philippines topped the list.
Business Insider mentioned in an article that to qualify, a few standards must be fulfilled. Guided by a report from World Bank Group which highlights four factors; “the country’s people, environment, relationships and framework that propel both individuals and corporations to invest in a given country’s natural resources, markets, technologies or brands”.
To ascertain the overall list, US News surveyed more than 21,000 people from 80 different countries taking into consideration 65 different qualities. Although, they only focused on eight qualities which are; entrepreneurship, economic stability, favorable tax environment, innovation, skilled labor, technological expertise, dynamism, and corruption.
Indonesia bagged the second place, the third place was grabbed by Poland, followed by Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Spain, Thailand, India, Oman, Czech Republic, Finland, Uruguay, Turkey, Ireland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Brazil, France, and Chile.
The Duterte administration’s P8.4-trillion ‘Build, Build, Build’ program is envisioned to create more jobs and encourage economic growth in the Philippines. Moreover, this program aims to construct more roads, bridges, and highways including a 24-kilometer subway.
Just last December, Duterte signed the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion into law reducing income tax but increasing excise taxes on automobile, tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages.
