Philippine Deal May End Violence, Lure Investors: Southeast Asia

Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s deal with Muslim rebels provides the best chance since 2008 to extinguish a four-decade insurgency that has killed as many as 200,000 people and attract investors deterred by violence to the mineral-rich south.

“It adds to the positive momentum in the Philippines,” said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC Holdings Plc in Hong Kong. “The economy is doing very well, and a peace deal is going to help sentiment. There have been false starts in past years in terms of the peace process, so there is also likely to be some wait-and-see attitude to see if this one sticks.”