Are MNCs looking to expand in the Philippines?

By Shishir Sinha | Published November 28, 2012

Senior executives are increasingly answering “yes” as they seek to diversify operations in Asia beyond Greater China.

-Its small size has kept it off the radar screen of many executives, but as corporate mandates increasingly emphasize profitability, the Philippines is a market that executives need to pay attention to

-Despite its small size relative to its regional peers, the Philippines can offer fairly high and stable returns for strategically targeted investments.

Its fiscal prudence has already led to a credit rating upgrade this year with another upgrade expected to bring the nation to ‘investment’ status by 2013.
More than 60% of the population falls between the ages of 14-65 thus providing for a large and one of the fastest growing consumer bases in the region
President Benigno’s government has started making slow but essential progress on anti-corruption reforms and building up infrastructure

-Given the small size of opportunity, executives should focus their investment efforts into three main areas of the Philippines (see map), with the major focus on Luzon, which has the highest concentration of wealth and population. Companies looking for high-growth opportunities beyond Luzon should consider Cebu and Davao in order to keep their efforts concentrated on these more developed and business friendly metropolitan areas