“SO LONG as we continue to focus on the fundamentals, good things will happen,” Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima told reporters earlier this month. He was commenting on the decision by Moody’s Investors Service to upgrade its rating on Philippine government bonds from stable to positive.
NOTHING, it seems, succeeds like success. When Philippine President Benigno Aquino returned to Manila from the US last week he boasted that his trip had generated US$2.4 billion (S$3.2 billion) in new investments for the country.
President Benigno Aquino has stepped up efforts to lure foreign investors into the country, so far without much success. The country continues to be hobbled by widespread corruption and several long-running insurgencies.
However, the government has had some success in reducing the budget deficit. The president also remains popular with voters.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
My name is Dr Bruce Gale and I am a senior writer with the Singapore Straits Times. I studied at LaTrobe University (BA Hons) in Melbourne and later at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Monash University (MA). My PhD thesis, which focussed on Malaysian political economy, was completed at the Malaysian National University (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) in 1987.
From 1988 to 2003 I was Singapore Regional Manager for the Hong Kong based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
I have written several books and articles on Southeast Asian affairs, including Political Risk and International Business: Case Studies in Southeast Asia (Pelanduk Publications, 2007). Books on language include Mastering Indonesian: a guide to reading Indonesian language newspapers (Pelanduk Publications, 2008)