Located in South-East Asia, the Philippines is a developing country and a cultural melting pot. Over time, having been former colonies of Spain, the US, and very briefly during World War 2, Japan, the Philippines shows very distinct features that having been influenced by their colonisers, as well as more local influences. The name of the country itself, for example, is derived from King Philip of Spain, and English is one of the national languages, a clear influence from years under US control. As such, years of turbulence on various fronts – mainly political – have stunted the country’s growth; until now. The Philippines has one of the most stable and fast-growing economies in the region at the moment, and it is attracting worldwide attention for investment in various sectors such as energy, infrastructure and probably most popular at the moment, business outsourcing. Below we shall look at three reasons why you or your business should invest in the Philippines.
1) Rapidly expanding infrastructure
One of the current Philippine government’s biggest projects is their “Build, build, build” program, whereby they plan to improve infrastructure nationwide in order to improve connectivity between regions, and spread the economic power beyond the capital, Manila. This means that roads, bridges, land, sea and airports, and commercial buildings are springing up everywhere, all working towards this goal.
As well as the aforementioned projects, the infrastructure program includes improvement of the country’s ICT systems; extremely important given the size of its business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. A look at the quality of the infrastructure and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the buildings and facilities in the Philippines – where you’d be just as likely to find high speed internet and conference room scheduling displays – and the US. By the looks of things, investment in Philippine infrastructure and companies involved in those industries are speeding up, and would therefore be a smart financial move if you move early.
– and the US. By the looks of things, investment in Philippine infrastructure and companies involved in those industries are speeding up, and would therefore be a smart financial move if you move early.
2) A young and highly educated workforce
One way to know if your investment is in safe hands is if those you are investing in are competent and educated. Of the Philippines’ 100 million plus population, 50 percent are under the age of 23; this is an incredible number, especially when you consider the issues the industrialised countries such as Japan are facing with their aging population. A huge chunk of this population are completing higher education, and are therefore providing valuable human resources to the economy, complemented by the current government’s increased investment in education and health.
Investing in a more educated, highly literate and competent workforce is clearly a safer bet for investors, not to mention the widespread use of English, which is the universal language for business.
3) The location
The Philippines is located at the heart of South-East Asia, making it easily accessible to and from all the major capitals in the region. This means that it also has a market base of hundreds of millions of people. It has also become an important manufacturing location for many companies thanks to this, as well as it’s relatively low labour costs. The location is very attractive to investors who have other interests in the region.