Philippines
General
Information & Brief Economic Summary
US
Embassy
Government of The
Philippines
Trade Associations and
Other Key Contacts
General Information & Brief
Economic Summary
The Philippines was less severely affected by the Asian
financial crisis of 1998 than its neighbors, aided in part by
annual remittances of $7-8 billion from overseas workers and no
sustained runup in asset prices or foreign borrowing prior to
the crisis. From a 0.6% decline in 1998, GDP expanded by 2.4%
in 1999, and 4.4% in 2000, but slowed to 3.2% in 2001 in the
context of a global economic slowdown, an export slump, and
political and security concerns. GDP growth accelerated to 4.3%
in 2002, 4.7% in 2003, and about 6% in 2004, reflecting the
continued resilience of the service sector, and improved
exports and agricultural output. Nonetheless, it will take a
higher, sustained growth path to make appreciable progress in
poverty alleviation given the Philippines' high annual
population growth rate and unequal distribution of income. The
Philippines also faces higher oil prices, higher interest rates
on its dollar borrowings, and higher inflation. Fiscal
constraints limit Manila's ability to finance infrastructure
and social spending. The Philippines' consistently large budget
deficit has produced a high debt level and has forced Manila to
spend a large portion of the national government budget on debt
service. Large, unprofitable public enterprises, especially in
the energy sector, contribute to the government's debt because
of slow progress on privatization. Credit rating agencies are
increasingly concerned about the Philippines' ability to
sustain the debt; legislative progress on new revenue measures
will weigh heavily on credit rating decisions.
Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the
Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam
Capital: Manila
Area: 300,000 sq. km, slightly larger than Arizona
Population: 84,619,974 (July 2003 est.)
Ethnic Groups: Christian Malay 91.5 percent, Muslim
Malay 4 percent, Chinese 1.5 percent, other 3 percent
Religion: Roman Catholic 83 percent, Protestant 9
percent, Muslim 5 percent, Buddhist and other 3 percent
Industries: Textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood
products, food processing, electronics assembly, petroleum
refining, fishing
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US Embassy
1201 Roxas Boulevard
Manila, Philippines 1000
Tel. No. : (632) 528-6300 extension 2555, 2246
Fax : (632) 522-3242
http://usembassy.state.gov/manila/
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Government of The Philippines
http://www.gov.ph/
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Trade Associations and Other Key
Contacts
Republic of The Philippines
Philippine Institute for Supply Management
http://www.pism.org/
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*This guide is not a complete list of trade associations or
publications. We welcome any additions to this document. The
Material Handling Industry does not assume a legal liability or
responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of
the information contained herein. The listing of information
here does not reflect an endorsement of any of the particular
information by the Material Handling Industry.