Date Published:
Jun 01, 2001
Focus Area(s):
Author(s):
Code:
PJD 2001 Vol. XXVIII No. 1-c

The paper examines the policies pursued by the Philippines in response to the increasing economic integration and interdependence of nations and regions around the world, focusing in particular on the country’s multitrack approach to trade and investment liberalization. The country’s experience points to the importance of domestic policies that foster domestic efficiency and competitiveness before one can participate in regional integration and face global competition. The country first pursued trade and liberalization policies in the 1980s and 1990s to eliminate the inefficiency of domestic industries arising from its past protectionist policies. The unilateral liberation efforts resulted in a better allocation of resources and improvement in the overall competitiveness of domestic industries. The improved competitiveness enabled the country to participate in the 1990s in regional trading arrangements--AFTA and APEC--and in the much bigger WTO. The challenge facing the country now is how to deepen and expand its participation in regional integration as the proliferation of regional trading agreements has brought forth many new competitors for the country, both for its export markets and its sources of foreign direct investment. Areas requiring further reforms are identified to enable the country to realize the full gains from economic integration.

Citations

This publication has been cited 2 times

In other Publications
  1. Cororaton, Caesar B., Erwin L. Corong, and John Cockburn. 2009. Agricultural price distortions, poverty and inequality in the Philippines. Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 52790. World Bank.
  2. Lazaro, Dorothea C., Ganeshan Wignaraja, and Genevieve De Guzman. 2011. Factors affecting use or nonuse of Free Trade Agreements in the Philippines. Philippine Journal of Development PJD 2009, 36, no. 2. Philippine Institute for Development Studies.


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