Young population, investment opportunities gave Philippines the edge in US News list —UP dean

The country’s young population helped the Philippines make it to the top spot on the list of US News’ best countries to invest in, an educator-statistician said on Tuesday.

“Ano naman ‘yan sa demographics ... We are a young population. That’s part of our government’s agenda na we have to increase income to the demographic dividend,” Professor Dennis Mapa, dean of the University of the Philippines School of Statistics, told reporters on the sidelines of a forum on economic well-being.

Making it to the list means that the Philippines has a lot of opportunities to offer interested investors, he said

“That’s in fact good. You have a young population, you have a lot of opportunities. Tama naman ‘yun, nasasama na ‘yun sa Philippine Development Plan,” Mapa said.

The Philippines topped US News’ list of best countries to invest in and ranked 49th in its 2018 Best Countries report.

The rankings are based on how global perceptions define countries based on a number of qualitative characteristics and impressions that have the potential to drive trade, travel, and investment, and directly affect national economies. —VDS, GMA News