Economy in Philippines

The Philippines used to be a former colony of Spain and the United States, which can be seen especially in the economic sector since there is a high number of American companies in the country. In the period after the Second World War, the Philippines were one of the richest countries in Asia, just behind Japan. However, Philippine growth started slowing down since the ’60s of the 20th century, especially compared to its neighbours. This trend is noticeable in the 80 years, after the time Marcos regime the demand for Filipino products went down, and also it “lost” about 10 % of GDP due to the corruption. After the adoption of democracy and the restructuring of the banking sector, the Philippines was able to mobilize part of its economic instruments and economic resources to overcome the negative consequences of the crisis. The Philippines is considered to be the oldest democracy in the region of East Asia with the hopeful progression of the economy and pro-western culture.

Even though the Philippines are known for extensively corruption scandals, in general, we can evaluate the latest development in government as positive. The biggest weaknesses of the Philippines economy are weak infrastructure, job market and safety situation.

The Philippines has been facing high inflation since 2018. Prices for food and beverages went up, as well as rents, prices for water and electricity. Due to the increase in price for fuel, transportation in the Philippines is getting more expansive. Longstanding higher inflation and slower growth of GDP has been creating pressure for the government to maintain or even speed up capital investments which will be crucial for the Philippine economy for the next years. The government in terms of program “Build, Build, Build” has started with improving infrastructure, especially building airports, roads, ports and railways. There are also some projects focussing on irrigation and energetic systems.

The Czech Republic and the Philippines have a very close relationship. The cooperation has spread from tourism to sectors such as trade, agriculture, environment, or education. The deepening of cooperation was possible particularly, due to the effort on both sides and relatively close culture. The Czech Republic can assert better in the Philippines than in any other country in Asia.