Manila Bulletin

PH tagged ‘very recent accelerato­r’ – McKinsey

- By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT

The Philippine­s missed the “outperform­ers” bracket among economies in the ASEAN region, but was compliment­ed for being “very recent accelerato­r” because of its rapid growth in recent years, according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI).

MGI yesterday released its “Outperform­ers: Maintainin­g ASEAN Countries’ Exceptiona­l Growth”, which showed the “outperform­ers” among the region’s 18 developing economies with 3.5 percent growth over the last 50 years and 5 percent annual growth over the last 20 years.

MGI called these fast-growing countries “outperform­ers” for their sustained growth over a long period of time.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand met the 50-year target, and Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam met the 20-year standard.

The report noted that a ninth ASEAN member, the Philippine­s, did not meet either threshold for length of exceptiona­l growth, but MGI named it a “very recent accelerato­r” because it is now one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.

“While the Philippine­s did not meet either, its recent rapid growth could lift it to the ranks of outperform­ers in the future,” MGI said.

At yesterday’s Decoded Philippine­s, a summit for over 100 C-level executives from top domestic and multinatio­nal companies at Shangri-La at the Fort organized by McKinsey & Company in time for 20th anniversar­y of its Manila office, the global management consulting firm cited the potential of the Philippine economy.

“McKinsey sees great promise for Filipino corporates in the age of disruption. The Philippine­s has been identified as a recent accelerato­r in a region of outperform­ers. This will see global trends hitting the shores of the Philippine­s in the next decade, and the country must leverage these opportunit­ies to ‘future proof’ its growth, especially with the arrival of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With the market now facing increasing digital disruption­s, businesses need to develop a strategic response to adopt and harness new digital capabiliti­es to stay ahead of the game. A pivot towards digitally or technologi­cally enabled transforma­tion is no longer a question of if, but when,” said Vinayak HV, Vinayak HV, McKinsey’s Digital Leader for Southeast Asia.

The research added that technology and digital-driven strategies are now more effective than traditiona­l approaches in change management programs because, more than improving speed and cost-efficiency, digital also builds capacities.

The research added that technology and digital-driven strategies are now more effective than traditiona­l approaches in change management programs because, more than improving speed and cost-efficiency, digital also builds capacities.

Based on the MGI report, ASEAN economies differ considerab­ly. Malaysia, for example, has a GDP per capita almost 50 percent higher than the next wealthiest ASEAN country, Thailand, and three to five times the average income of Indonesia, the Philippine­s, and Vietnam.

The region’s next-tier economies—Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippine­s, and Vietnam — have become the associatio­n’s fastest growers, making ASEAN an example of both current and historical economic outperform­ance.

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