Few years are without their challenges and 2008 was certainly no exception as I’m sure most of you will attest.

The year started with a weak U.S Dollar and it stayed that way throughout the first quarter and into the 2nd. Not the greatest set of circumstances for an exporter like us who sells in U.S Dollars and we were glad to see a gradual strengthening towards the end of the year, albeit only partway to its former value.

Then, of course, the global financial crisis that “thumped” its way into the final quarter…ouch! This was a biggie and although it was unlikely to greatly impact on 2008 itself, the stage was set for tricky times ahead.

The Philippines’ economy continues to perform well and against world trends and there are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, the Philippines is not a credit based domestic economy and so there was little or no credit squeeze impact locally. The second is that the Philippines benefited from an increase in outsourcing activities, particularly from US based clients. This trend is expected to continue and the Philippines remain a preferred destination for all forms of outsourcing. Bullish times ahead we suspect.

Of course, any threat to Top Draw’s clients ends up being a threat to Top Draw and it’s in these tougher times particularly that we’re thankful for our conservative nature and the pedigree of our clients. We’re happy to report that all seems relatively calm on the Western Front, but in any event, we continue to explore ways of improving our value proposition.