The Philippines is now among the “new darlings of investors” in Asia. 

A new CNBC Asia article “Who Is Asia’s New Darling of Investors?” mentioned that the economic growth in the Philippines, boosted by growth in the services sector, has impressed several economists in the region. 

The country’s 5.9 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth for Q2, in particular, is one of the highest posted in Asia – next only to China and Indonesia – and bests Malaysia’s 5.4 percent, Vietnam’s 4.4 percent, Thailand’s 4.2 percent, and Singapore’s 2 percent.

Prakriti Sofat, Barclays Regional Economist, called the Philippines “Asia’s rising star” and said that a credit ratings upgrade for the country in the second half of 2012 is expected. 

Fidelity Worldwide Investment’s Medha Samant described the Philippines as the “new market darling” for foreign investors and added that the country has cut down its fiscal deficit, has strong domestic demand, and has high remittances from overseas foreign workers. 

Medha also cited the Philippines’ business process outsourcing industry, which continues to show strong growth. The investment director at Fidelity Worldwide added that the country’s BPO industry “employs almost the same number as bank workers today; there are opportunities in this market that we are quite excited about.”

The CNBC Asia article was published less than a week after the report “A Youthful Populace Helps Make the Philippines an Economic Bright Spot in Asia” came out in The New York Times.