The German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI) hosted the first Economic Outlook for 2025 together with the German Embassy Manila, and German Club Manila.
Last 28 January 2025, GPCCI invited Mr. Rafael Garchitorena, the Managing Director of Regis Inc. to kick off the year with the first Economic Forum of 2025.
Mr. Garchitorena shared his insights on how it will impact the Philippine economy after it's set to expand at an accelerated rate.
The U.S. Presidential Election was highlighted and its potential impact on the Philippine economy due to the nation's reliance on the dollar. Philippine exports generated a positive outcome with no significant trade surplus with the US, which mitigated tariff impacts.
The earnings forecast last year looked bullish and this year, it looks to be no different. The government spending pattern persists as a problem and exploration into AI poses a threat to business process outsourcing (BPO) companies as vacancy rates keep rising.
On the other hand, the exploration of AI would help data centers as they benefit from friendshoring. Filipinos are also relieved with lower domestic rice prices, decreased unemployment rates and increased positive minimum wage spikes resulting in a roaring consumer recovery, with Digitalization fronting the overall growth, through InstaPay systems.
The discussion provided insights of the Philippine economy which prompted 2025 to be the year of the Groundhog, with the drop in the Philippine Economy. Despite this, the Philippines is showing a strong domestic recovery continuing from 2024.
Mr. Garchitorena admits that while the nation still has more room to improve in the market, the early start into the year already provides an outlook of the upcoming trends which can help navigate businesses power the economy through.
We would like to give our gratitude to the premium partners Du Baladad and Associates (BDB Law), Centro Project Manpower Services Corporation, Continental Autonomous Mobility Philippines, Inc., and Konecranes (PH) Inc. for their participation in the year's first Economic Forum.
For more information, Mr. Garchitorena has made his presentation file available for anyone to view:
