The paper examines the policies pursued by the Philippines in response to the increasing economic integration and interdependence of nations and regions around the world, focusing in particular on the country’s multi-track approach to trade and investment liberalization. The country’s...

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector has experienced unprecedented global growth. This has greatly benefited the Philippines, where BPO has five main segments: call centers, medical transcription, animation, software development, and shared services. High population level, cultural...

The participation of the Philippines in the global production network of multinational electronic companies has undoubtedly shaped the pattern and structure of the country’s international trade since the early 1990s. While the industry has remained the largest foreign exchange earner for the...

The world trading environment has witnessed the proliferation of regional trading arrangements during the last decade. This development was accompanied by the perceived threat that this may bring to the rules-based multilateral trading system. The ASEAN for one have not only reaffirmed their...

Competitiveness is technically a firm level concept. However, it is oftentimes extended to the national level--the idea of a country's 'international competitiveness' with the following analogies: market share--export share of country; price--real effective exchange rate or unit labor cost;...

This paper investigates the implications of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in December of 2001 for the Philippines based on an analysis of Philippines-China bilateral trade structure, a presentation of the commitments made by China for its WTO accession, and a discussion of...

Rice self-sufficiency is a dominant policy objective. However, analysis indicates that government policies are not neutral. Thus, it hampers the realization of the potential comparative advantage of the Philippines in rice production. Results suggest that removal of price distortions that create...

The paper discusses the state of the Philippine garments industry, with specific focus on its competitiveness and logistics infrastructure, and how the industry can make use of the prospective Free Trade Agreement with the US. With the signing of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing on January...

From being second to Japan in the early 1950s, the Philippine manufacturing sector has now been rated as one of the least successful economic performers in the region. Like the other past attempts, this paper reviews the performance, competitiveness and structure of the country’s manufacturing...

This paper investigates the implications of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in December 2001 for the Philippines based on an analysis of Philippine-China bilateral trade structure, a presentation of the commitments made by China for its WTO accession, and a discussion of this...