MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has retained its position as the second-highest ranked country in Southeast Asia in the 2025 United Nations (UN) Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, highlighting the country’s continued push toward modernized and efficient trade systems.
According to the latest UN report, the Philippines posted an overall trade facilitation score of 91.4 percent, up from 86 percent recorded in the previous year.
Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the agency remains committed to going beyond global trade standards by prioritizing reforms that support the administration’s development agenda, including e-commerce digitalization.
“This achievement highlights the country’s increasing momentum in adopting efficient and sustainable trade facilitation practices,” the BOC said in a statement.
“It highlights global and regional trends, and recognizes countries making significant strides toward efficient, inclusive and sustainable trade practices,” it added.
Leading Southeast Asian nations is Singapore, which scored 96.8 percent.
Behind the Philippines is Malaysia, which jotted 90.3 percent, followed by Indonesia with 89.2 percent and Thailand with 88.2 percent.
In the sixth spot is Brunei, which scored 80.6 percent, followed by Cambodia with 78.5 percent, Vietnam with 77.4 percent and Laos with 75.3 percent.
Last in the survey ranking is Myanmar with 66.7 percent.
The survey assesses 62 World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement measures, spanning areas such as transparency, paperless trade, e-commerce, gender inclusion, green practices and trade finance, among others.
The UN said its methodology is a fact-based, three-step process conducted over six months. This includes expert data collection, verification by UN regional secretariats and final validation by national governments, ensuring accuracy and consistency every two years.
In a radio interview, Nepomuceno earlier said the agency is targeting to collect P1.1 trillion next year.
The revenue target of the BOC for this year, however, has been slashed by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee to just P990 billion from the original target of P1.06 trillion due to lower tariffs and expected weak import growth.
Be the first to comment