The Case of the Philippines in the Asian Economy

This chapter focuses on the context of “shared growth” to highlight the case of the Philippines in an East Asian context. The term was coined in the controversial East Asian Miracle Report of the World Bank to describe the peculiarities of the development of eight Highly Performing East Asian Economies, in which the Philippines was not included. The case of the Philippines in this context was elaborated through three international engagements of Japan, the premier model and advocate of shared growth. These engagements are also known as the trinity of ODA-FDI-EX/IM. Although the Philippines appeared to do relatively well in leveraging ODA and FDI, to the extent that it was able, the inability to ride on the flying geese dynamics which underlie Japan’s trade (EX/IM) remains a challenge.