My welcome to the Philippines!

Credit to Author: EI SUN OH| Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:38:24 +0000

EI SUN OH

AS some readers will have noticed, I have been writing for this esteemed paper for a number of years, but I had yet to set foot in the Philippines. Well, finally I did have a chance to come to the Philippines last week, mainly to attend The Manila Times Business Forum.

My emotions were already quite pent-up on the flight from Kota Kinabalu to Manila. When the flight attendant announced that the plane had landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and at the same moment I saw a large neon sign with the airport’s name, my eyes could not help but well up in tears. A lot of childhood memories came rushing back. In the 1970s and 1980s, I was a rather precocious child curious about world affairs. I grew up with the impression that the Philippines was a dictatorship. And from all the accounts that I read, it was. But the world-shattering assassination of Ninoy Aquino, a prominent opposition leader, right there at the same airport tarmac in 1983, ushered in the later democratization of the country, and many of us from surrounding countries were also quietly hoping for the best for the Filipinos. It was one of the pivotal events which shaped my world view.

I was somewhat taken aback seeing many of the casino resorts by the airport, and also in many other parts of Manila. For I had always thought the gaming industry was vibrant primarily in Macao and Cambodia, with a few other casinos in Singapore and Malaysia; but apparently it is alive and well, indeed booming, here in Manila. My Filipino friends told me that spankingly colorful new casinos have sprung up. And that in recent years, the Philippines also saw the proliferation of what has come to be known as “pogos,” or Philippine online gaming operators, offering, well, online gaming services primarily to overseas “players.” Well, gaming, be it online or offline, has indeed brought about a degree of much-needed prosperity to quite a few regional economies, especially amid a continuing worldwide economic slowdown which has also seen the increasingly jarring disparity between the rich (and therefore potential gaming customers) and poor (those seeking gainful employment). The most important concerns in this regard are perhaps that more jobs are indeed created for the locals, and that the resulting profits can be more evenly spread out among the various strata of the local society, which hopefully would also not be too affected by some of the less than positive influences typically brought about by the gaming industry. Sometimes when the economy needs growth, we cannot be too choosy. There is simply no straightforward answer as to how to bring about growth, especially in developing countries.

And growth was perhaps the main theme throughout the business forum held in Makati. The economic picture painted at the forum was perhaps as rosy as the relatively neat streets and impressive malls of Makati. Philippine senior government officials who attended the forum were very friendly, even stopping to pose with me for photos. I was curious about the need for foreign direct investments in the Philippines, but I was told by my learned Filipino friends that while FDI continues to be much needed, the business process outsourcing industry (such as call centers) and the remittances sent back by overseas Filipino workers also contribute significantly to the economy. The good command of English exhibited by many of my Filipino friends certainly makes it a niche for the Philippines to be a favored destination for outsourcing. For me, there is nothing to be embarrassed about a developing country becoming an outsourcing destination or having a significant portion of its population working overseas in modern times, for such is the reality of the world that almost all developing countries would have to go through this stage of their economic development. The important thing, once again, is that local jobs are created, and that more skills are acquired in the process to move up the value chain.

I was also invited by the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry to give a talk on the opportunities and challenges faced by China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia. I was of the opinion that trade and investments must come first and foremost if BRI is to bear fruit in Southeast Asia, as this is the part of the world which straddles the crossroads of East and West. The 10 Asean member states came together to form the Asean Economic Community back in 2015, eliminating most of the tariffs and nontariff barriers between them, which allows for freer flow of goods and services among themselves. In addition, Asean also has a standing free trade agreement with China. It is time that Asean and China come together to upgrade their economic integration as a precursor to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement currently under negotiation. In addition, I think BRI should be a bi-directional venture, whereby those of us from Southeast Asia seek not only Chinese investments in the region, but should also make good use of the BRI framework to expand our business into the primarily Central Asian Silk Road economic belt, and even the shores of the new Arctic Route which is also increasingly being explored as a potential shipping route.

Of course I had some time to go around Manila. While I am very impressed with the skyscrapers in Makati as well as the heritage buildings in Intramuros, I hope I am not too blunt in pointing out that Manila, just like many other Southeast Asian metropolises, could really have better traffic management, and not least a more advanced and well-run public transport infrastructure. The jeepneys are nice and colorful, but they are still an indispensable part of the already choking surface roads. If the transportation challenges could be better tackled, I am sure Manila would expand its economic potential even more. But overall, it’s indeed mostly fun in the Philippines.

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