DBS: PH Among Singapore’s Top Nations Of Interest

The international business and finance community in Singapore expressed interest in investing more in the Philippines.

Photo Insert: The Philippines' robust growth performance was commended by DBS.

Piyush Gupta, DBS Group chief executive officer, commended the country's robust growth performance and shared that the Philippines is among the top 10 nations of interest for Singapore investors and Singaporeans.

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

This resonates with the claim of Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno that the time to invest in the Philippines is now.

The finance chief explained that this optimism is grounded on the country’s stable macroeconomic fundamentals, highlighting the bolder strategic reforms and public investments of the Marcos administration.

National Economic and Development Authority 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, Budget 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,” Pangandaman said.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 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 economy against global headwinds.

Best of all, Dakila announced some good news: "We see that inflation will go back to within target by the fourth quarter of this year.”

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