The Philippines in the Global Trading Environment

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The government has implemented substantial trade and investment policy reforms during the last two decades, following a three-track approach involving unilateral, regional and multilateral modalities toward freer trade and investment. The reforms have resulted in improvements in domestic resource allocation, increased productivity, increased competitiveness of manufacturing industries, expansion of exports, and increased integration of the country in the global market. Yet, the growth of the industry sector, particularly manufacturing, has not been as robust as many have expected, leading some sectors to question the reforms. This requires hard thinking even as it poses a great challenge to policymakers.