This volume of the Philippine Journal of Development features articles on migration, performance and competitiveness of local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), trade and investments, and energy. The first article examines how Filipinos' social standing, migration culture and history, and perceptions of the government collectively influence their intentions to migrate, particularly for employment reasons. The second article looks into the benefits of supply chain integration for local SMEs and their stakeholders while the third article focuses on the likely effects of China's massive infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, on Philippine trade and investment. Concluding this issue is an article that reviews the country’s legal and regulatory framework for distributed energy resources. It gives recommendations on how the Philippines can adapt to current trends in the global energy sector especially in small-scale power generation and storage technologies.