Philippines in new group of top emerging economies

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has been included in a new group of four countries which pose a challenge to economic juggernauts Brazil, Russia, India and China, more popularly known as BRICs.

In an article titled 'Forget the BRICs; Meet the PINEs' published Wednesday in Time magazine, correspondent Michael Schuman said the PINEs- Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria and Ethiopia are performing very well and show that the advance of emerging economies is far from over.

Schuman said the Philippines was left behind after World War II by its East Asian neighbors despite its great potential for development, leaving millions of Filipinos with the option of working abroad.

"Now, though, the Philippines has become one of the region’s best performers. Even after getting smashed by Typhoon Haiyan last year, (gross domestic product) still surged by 7.2 percent, and the (International Monetary Fund) expects the country to post similar rates over the next several years," the article read.

Schuman added that Brazil and India are posting economic growth "that are only a fraction of what they were a couple of years ago." Russia's prospects seem unlikely to improve with looming sanctions from Europe and the United States, and China currently confronts rising debt and a distorted financial system.

Schuman said the PINEs may not be as big as the BRICs but they still represent a big opportunity for investment.

"The PINEs, after all, have a combined population of about 600 million people. So don’t be too quick to dismiss the emerging-markets story. The meek may yet inherit the world," he said.