THE Philippines has jumped two notches to place eighth among 20 economies in Asia and the Pacific in a survey measuring the capacity to participate in international trade.
The country scored 55.9, from 53.8 in 2018, out of 100 in the Hinrich Foundation’s Sustainable Trade Index 2020. As such, it improved to eighth to land behind Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States and China.
The Philippine rating also breached the index’s average of 55, besting the scores of Southeast Asian rivals Thailand, 50.5; Malaysia, 49.8; Brunei Darussalam, 48.5; Cambodia, 48.0; Vietnam, 46.7; Indonesia, 46.4; Lao PDR, 46.2; and Myanmar, 40.1.
The Philippines surged in the rankings after leaping in the economic pillar. Based on the index, the country enhanced its per capita GDP and the depth of its financial sector, as well as made gains in export market concentration, trade costs and technological innovation.
“The Philippines rebounded to ninth, where it began in 2016 before slumping to 15th in 2018,” the survey read.
The Philippines also zoomed in the social pillar—to sixth, from 10th in 2018 and 19th in 2016—as it benefited from the adjustments in labor standards indicator. According to the index, Manila’s work condition is near perfect: “the volume of goods produced by forced labor is low, there is little gender discrimination in hiring and the right to association is high.”
Child workers
However, the Philippines was flagged for sustaining a labor industry that exploits child workers, particularly in agriculture, mining and manufacturing.
The country employs child laborers in farms, slaughterhouses, mining camps and factories, the rankings reported. It argued this practice has to change, not just in the name of trade.
In the environmental pillar, the Philippines landed ninth to trail behind Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, US, Taiwan and Sri Lanka.
The index warned that the next world crisis after the Covid-19 pandemic may be climate change. It disclosed that no country among the 20 in the survey posted a positive data on deforestation—not even Pakistan, that has little to deforest to begin with.
To sustain trade in the time of Covid-19, Hinrich Foundation listed four recommendations that it asked policy-makers, business leaders and NGOs to prioritize: reducing inequality, improving education, lowering barriers to trade and investment, and building on environmental benefits of the pandemic.
The Sustainable Trade Index is a biennial report commissioned to The Economist Intelligence Unit by the Hinrich Foundation. It assesses the trade performance, especially the sustainability, of 20 Asia-Pacific economies across 27 indicators grouped into three pillars.