THE PHILIPPINES: Investment Climate Statement 2015

The Philippines actively seeks foreign investment to promote economic development. The Philippine investment landscape has noteworthy advantages, such as its free trade zones, including zones administered by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) (http://www.peza.gov.ph/), and its large, educated, English-speaking Filipino workforce. Philippine law treats foreign investors the same as their domestic counterparts, except in sectors reserved for Filipinos by the Philippine Constitution and Foreign Investment Act (detailed below). However, inadequate public investment in the physical and social infrastructure and lack of transparency hinder foreign investment. Philippine regulatory regimes remain ambiguous in many sectors of the economy, and corruption is a significant problem. A complex and slow judicial system is also a major disincentive to investment.