SMEs in the Philippine Manufacturing Industry and Globalization: Meeting the Development Challenges

Marked disparities in income across regions have persisted in the Philippines. In the last five years 2002-2006, the mean real per capita regional income for the countrys seventeen regions is around P14,000 (based on 1985 level). The highest is National Capital Region (NCR) with a real per capita income of P34,000 which is about 2.5 times the mean value and ten times the lowest value of P3,300 registered in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Region. Far second from NCR is Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) with mean income of P18,000. Northern Mindanao and CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) Region have around P14,000; DAVAO and CENTRAL VISAYAS with P13,000 while MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan) Region follows with mean income of P12,000. Given the wide imbalances in regional incomes, gaps between regions increased from 0.06 in 2002 to 0.07 in 2006.