Incoming Philippine finance chief Carlos Dominguez sought to reassure investors that his new boss is a pragmatic leader who will build on the gains that have made the Southeast Asian economy one of the fastest growing in the world.

While president-elect Rodrigo Duterte makes the headlines mainly for his brashness, foul language and anti-crime rhetoric — including threats to kill criminals — Dominguez wants investors to look beyond that to Duterte's track record as mayor of Davao city. Duterte plans to spread the policies that helped the wider Davao region, which includes the city, expand 9.4 percent in 2014, the fastest in the country, he said.

"He has done it by, first of all, assuring there is peace and order, that the laws are fair and uniformly implemented and he has been business friendly," Dominguez, a childhood friend of Duterte and a former agriculture secretary under the late President Corazon Aquino in the 1980s, said in an interview in Manila.