The international business and finance community in Singapore expressed great interest in investing more in the Philippines at the second Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) held in the morning of June 15, 2023 in Singapore.

DBS Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Piyush Gupta commended the country’s robust growth performance and shared that the Philippines is among the top ten nations of interest for Singapore investors and Singaporeans.

“For several reasons, the remainder of this decade is the Philippines’ time,” CEO Gupta said, citing the country’s sustainability agenda, digitalization agenda, and favorable geopolitics.

This resonates with the claim of Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno that the time to invest in the Philippines is now, saying, “This is the moment.” The Finance Chief explained in his Keynote Address that this optimism is grounded on the country’s stable macroeconomic fundamentals, highlighting the bolder strategic reforms and public investments of the Administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr..

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan added that the private sector has played a great role in boosting the country’s infrastructure development and shared the President’s directive to expand opportunities and partnerships for trade and bilateral relations rapidly.

Meanwhile, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman expressed her confidence in the budget and fiscal reforms being implemented to address the government’s limited fiscal space.

These reforms include opening up the country’s economy to foreign investments, rightsizing the bureaucracy, digitalization, and the aggressive push for Public-Private Partnerships to support other priority areas.

With the ongoing economic transformation, the Budget Chief expressed confidence that soon, the Philippines would once again be the ‘darling of Asia’:

“As CEO Gupta said, the Philippines used to be the Darling of Southeast Asia. I am certain that with your investments and support, the Philippines will not only be the darling but also the Sweetheart of Asia.”

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila Jr. added that external factors such as cash remittances, BPO revenues, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), and international reserves are expected to cushion the Philippine economy against global headwinds.

Best of all, the BSP Deputy Governor announced some good news: “We see that inflation will go back to within target by the fourth quarter of this year.”The PEB is hosted and moderated by BSP Managing Director Tony Lambino and DBM Undersecretary Margaux Salcedo.

Co-organized by the BSP, DOF, DBS Bank, and the Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines (ICCP) with the assistance of the Philippine Embassy in Singapore, the PEB serves as a platform for the country’s economic managers to discuss potential investment opportunities in the Philippines with market leaders.###