PHILIPPINES: AN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newly_industrialized_country

The category of newly industrialized country (NIC) is a socioeconomic classification applied to several countries around the world by political scientists andeconomists.

NICs are countries whose economies have not yet reached First World status but have, in a macroeconomic sense, outpaced their developing counterparts. Another characterization of NICs is that of nations undergoing rapid economic growth (usually export-oriented). Incipient or ongoing industrialization is an important indicator of a NIC. In many NICs, social upheaval can occur as primarily rural, or agricultural, populations migrate to the cities, where the growth of manufacturing concerns and factories can draw many thousands of laborers.

NICs usually share some other common features, including:

• Increased social freedoms and civil rights.^{[dubious – discuss]}
• Strong political leaders.
• A switch from agricultural to industrial economies, especially in the manufacturing sector.
• An increasingly open-market economy, allowing free trade with other nations in the world.^{[dubious – discuss]}
• Large national corporations operating in several continents.
• Strong capital investment from foreign countries.
• Political leadership in their area of influence.

NICs often receive support from international organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other internal support bodies. However, as environmental, labor, and social standards tend to be significantly weaker in NICs, many fair trade supporters have advocated standards for importing their products and criticized the outsourcing of jobs to NICs.