4 Growing Industries in the Philippines
Economic growth is one of the best ways to bring in more investors into any country. More investors mean more businesses, which generates more jobs, which will then contribute to a country’s economic growth.
The government recently held a forum about their plans to sustain and, dare we say, improve the country’s economic outlook through Dutertenomics, President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic and development blueprint for the country for the next 5-6 years.
Dutertenomics is hinged on infrastructure, which should allow almost every business to flourish through new roads, bridges, power plants, economic zones, etc. Whether these will be aligned with the data supplied by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) remains to be seen.
Let’s take a look at the top growing industries based on both Dutertenomics and data from the PSA:
CONSTRUCTION, TOURISM, MANUFACTURING, SERVICES. These are the industries you should watch out for in the next couple of years./IMAGES La Concepcion College, Zimbio, Campiauto.org, ExperiencePhilippines.org
Construction
The construction industry will definitely be a top contributor to the country’s growth in the next five to six years. With the government’s focus on infrastructure, local and international construction firms should see a rise in opportunities thanks to government projects lined up and ready for anyone to take part of.
According to the numbers from PSA, the construction grew by 11.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, way faster than the 8.2 percent growth during the same time in 2015. These numbers are expected to rise with several projects already lined up for 2017.
Manufacturing
It’s still the country’s top contributor towards our economic growth. Petroleum, transport equipment, beverage industries, and food are the top contributors within the manufacturing industry. With more roads being built, there should be more ways for manufacturers to put up factories in the country, which will help the industry even more.
A 6.9 percent growth during the fourth quarter of 2016 may not be much compared to 2015’s 6.1, but with an overall increase of 7 percent in 2016 compared to 2015’s 5.7 percent? That’s enough growth for us to put money into manufacturing.
Tourism
A push for a more inclusive growth won’t be good if it won’t be able to bring in more people to generate even more interest. The tourism industry is one of the country’s fastest-growing industries thanks to how accessible travelling has become.
Tourists have been flocking into the country, and though the PSA did not provide numbers, data from the Department of Tourism has shown that more and more people are looking to visit the country.
The establishment of the Tourism Infrastructure and Economic Zone Authority (TIEZA), in particular, will help push the tourism industry towards the top by looking for and developing the next Boracay, Palawan, and Cebu.
Services
The service sector may have slowed down in terms of growth (6.3% in 2016 to 7.3% in 2015), but these numbers should rise thanks to how much the tourism sector will bring in this year.
2016’s biggest improvement in services came from the education sector, which grew to 7.5 percent, followed by hotels and restaurants (6.2) and recreation (5.1). With expansions imminent for the tourism and gaming industry, providers who can get people working for hotels, restaurants, and recreational activities will surely rise.
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, The Philippine Star, Department of Tourism
