Philippines seen outperforming Asean neighbors’ growth

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is expected to have the fastest growth for the second year in a row among the five major economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN-5) in 2017.

Philippine Ambassador to France Ma. Theresa Lazaro presented recently the annual Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India during the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Vientiane, Laos.

Lazaro said that among the ASEAN-5 countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – the Philippines and Vietnam received the best growth forecasts for next year.

“The economies of Philippines and Vietnam are expected to grow by 6.1 percent,” she said.

The OECD Economic Outlook is an annual publication on Asia’s regional economic growth, development and regional integration process. It focuses on the economic conditions of the ASEAN-member countries as well as the relevant economic issues in China and India in order to reflect economic developments in the region.

“Steady economic growth is expected to continue in the region in 2017,” Lazaro said.

The Philippines is co-chair of the Economic Outlook until 2018, coinciding with the country’s chairmanship of the ASEAN summits in 2017.