Philippines to be fastest growing economy in the next 2 yrs: Ambassador

Philippines Ambassador to India Maria Teresita C Daza today said that her country could emerge as the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia over the next two years.

The sectors driving the economic growth in the Philippines are BPO, financial services, trade, construction, private consumption and manufacturing, she said.

"Philippines is expected to be the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia and second fastest in the world over the next two years," the ambassador said at an interactive session at the Merchants Chamber of India here.

Referring to India, she said it is one of the fastest growing economies in the world now.

Daza said the major factor driving her country's growth is its young and educated workforce which has an average age of around 24 years.

The Philippines Foreign Direct Investment inflows had hit an all-time high of USD 10.05 billion in 2017, up by 21.4 per cent compared to 2016 levels, she said.

The country's government has embarked on major reform programmes to significantly enhance the ease of doing business, such as TradeNet Platform, an online portal that will have 66 government agencies on board over the next two to three years, Daza added.

Several Indian IT companies have set up BPO operations in the Philippines, including Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, L&T Infotech, Genpact, Infosys, Intelenet, Aegis, HIMT (Hindujas) and Tech Mahindra, the Philippines officials said.

The Philippines is beginning to emerge as a destination for many Indian students and there are more than 10,000 Indian students pursuing medical courses in various universities in that country, MCC president Ramesh Agarwal said.