Now is the best time to invest in PH, says global report

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By Kim Arveen Patria | Yahoo Southeast Asia Newsroom â€" 21 hours ago



Yahoo Southeast Asia Newsroom/Yen Baet - Booming and beautiful. Can you believe this is in the metro? Yen Baet took this shot of the Bonifacio Global City.


Here comes some good news.

A new global report claims Filipinos and foreigners would make a wise decision to invest in the Philippines now, thanks to a fast improving business environment.

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In fact, Philippines was tagged as the most improved among the 60 economies in Grant Thornton’s “Global Dynamism Index” released Monday, jumping 25 places to the 21st spot this year.

The Philippines even posted greater improvements compared to China, which jumped 17 places to being third globally, topped only by Australia and Chile.

The report, which ranks countries according to changes implemented to make it easier for businesses to grow, gave the Philippines an index score of 55.7 points.

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The Philippines performed best in economics and growth where it got 80 points, owing primarily to high gross domestic product growth.

This comes after the Philippine economy's 7.5 percent growth from April to June, the fourth consecutive quarter with expansion above 7 percent under President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino's III's watch.

“The fast-paced growth of the Philippine economy certainly underlined our substantial rise in this year’s GDI,” said Ma. Victoria Españo, chief executive of Grant Thornton member Punongbayan & Araullo.

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The Philippines also posted high scores in terms of labor and human capital, 67.9 points, as well as business operating environment, 62.4 points.

“The boost was driven by labour productivity growth of 5.4 percent. Only in China (7.4 percent) did worker output rise faster in 2012,” the statement read.

But the Philippines registered its worst performance in financing environment, where it was given 49.1 points, and science and technology, 19.3 points.

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Among  ASEAN economies, the Philippines fell behind Singapore, ranked 7th globally, Malaysia (13th) and Thailand (19th). It however bested Vietnam, which bagged 27th in the global list, and Indonesia (37th).

“With the right mix of policies in place, our economy could offer even more opportunities for dynamic businesses,” Hernandez said, commenting on the report.