Research and surveys consistently show that firms do not rank tax incentives as the primary reason for choosing where to invest. Instead, political and macroeconomic stability, the legal…

Viet Anh Nguyen, Hassan Zaman |

A new World Bank Working Paper investigates the impact of lockdowns on the international trade of the Philippines, one of East Asia’s top traders, and one of the countries in the region most…

Guillermo Arenas, Socrates Majune, Angella Faith Montfaucon |

East Asia entered the COVID-19 pandemic first and is likely to be the first region to recover. The region can turn this crisis to its long-term advantage by adopting bold and imaginative policies…

Victoria Kwakwa |

In recent years, the Philippines has ranked among the world's fastest-growing economies but needs to adjust to the demands of a dynamic global economy. The Philippines is at a fork in the…

Birgit Hansl, Olivier Cattaneo |

Translations available in Chinese and Spanish. Many of you are already familiar with the PPP (Public-Private Partnerships) Group’s Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) Database. As a…

Clive Harris, Jenny Chao |

Nearly 50 years ago, books such as Asian Drama: An Inquiry Into The Poverty Of Nations, by the Swedish economist and Nobel laureate Gunnar Myrdal, offered a dire prediction of famine and poverty…

Axel van Trotsenburg |

Also available in: Français | العربية   A boat trip from Port Elizabeth to Kingstown, in the Caribbean country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is a one-hour trip that locals take several…

Valerie Lorena |

Traffic congestion results in an estimated productivity loss of around PHP2.4 billion ($54 million) a day or more than PHP800 billion ($18 billion) a year. From my house in northern Quezon City, I…

louielimkin |

A fish vendor waits for customers in his stall in Cebu City. According to the latest Philippine Economic Update, pushing key reforms to secure access to land, promote competition and simplify…

Karl Kendrick Chua |