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The Philippines has the best availability of skilled and competitively priced labor and ease of recruiting labor in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) region, according to a recent survey of European businesses in Southeast Asia.

By Luis Leoncio The economy sustaining its strong growth path of above six percent would result in the poverty rate to decline to 22.9 percent in 2018, the World Bank (WB) said in its October 2017 edition of the East Asia and Pacific Economic Update.

Philippines and Chinese officials will focus on the first “basket” of infrastructure projects which initially prioritizes eight “cooperation” initiatives involving flagship projects of President Duterte, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

The Asia-Pacific will remain a global growth center with India, China and the Philippines as regional leaders, S&P Global Ratings, in a recent report titled “Major Asia-Pacific Economies Show Stronger Growth; Risks Are Mostly Geopolitical said.

The government has signed the Restatement Agreement for the third Bilateral Swap Agreement (BSA) with Japan’s Minister of Finance through the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

By Riza Lozada The recently released Global Competitiveness Report 2017- 2018 of the World Economic Forum (WEF) indicated that the country has to do more to keep pace with its quickly progressing neighbors, the Makati Business Club (MBC) said.

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry said enabling conditions in the country make it a competitive destination for outsourcing services but the prolonged conflict in Marawi City between state forces and Filipino militants supporting the Islamic State (IS) is causing concerns.

The economy is expected to cruise to its high-growth path of over six percent a year without signs of overheating, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in the recent release of its Asian Development Outlook 2017 Update.

By Luis Leoncio Top Philippine and Japanese officials have agreed to streamline their respective approval processes and introduce new measures to put in the fast lane the implementation of big-ticket infrastructure contracts for possible Japan financing under the so-called “Fast and Sure” principle.

The Senate will tackle the proposed P3.767 budget for this week after receiving last September 27 from the House of Representatives House Bill 6215 or the 2018 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).