The Philippines' investor relations country score rose to third out of 41 emerging markets this year from 12th in 2022, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Saturday.
The ranking "indicates the country's effectiveness in engaging investors and transparency in giving public access to macroeconomic and environment, social and governance (ESG) data and policy information," the central bank said in a statement.
The country was scored 47.8 points out of 50 by the Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF) in its 2023 Investor Relations and Debt Transparency Report.
"With an increase of 6.4 points from a score of 41.4 in 2022, the Philippines registered the most improved score among the top 10 countries on the list," the BSP said.
Indonesia was first with a score of 48.4, followed by Turkey at 48.3. In fourth and fifth were Colombia (47.5) and Brazil (45.5).
"The IIF assessment highlights the success of the Philippines in communicating the strength and resilience of the country's macroeconomic fundamentals and the continuity of sound structural reforms to investors and other stakeholders," outgoing BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said.
The central bank said that its investor relations program entailed reaching out to stakeholders to disseminate continuously updated information on the Philippine economy and to solicit feedback from the investment community.
Proactive engagement by the country's economic team with investors via conferences, bilateral meetings, economic briefings and non-deal roadshows were said to have contributed to the improved ranking.
Enhancements observed in several areas include the addition of EST information on the BSP Investor Relations Group webpage in response to investors' growing interest in the government's ESG agenda, the dissemination of macroeconomic data, dissemination of ESG data and policy information, and feedback and communication channels.
The IIF's Investor Relations and Debt Transparency Report features guidelines for emerging markets' best practices on investor relations and data dissemination in conjunction with the Principles for Stable Capital Flows and Fair Debt Restructuring.
The 2023 assessment was conducted through a combination of desk research and a survey of countries with active IR programs.