Market positioning still a problem for RP

The Philippines is a country with lots of potential, however, it is lost when it comes to identifying its core competency that could make it standout in the worldwide competition, this according to a foreign economist.

Foreign economist Nicholas Kwan said the Philippines has no idea where its competitive edge lies.

"Positioning [of the Philippines] will be an issue in the next five years," said Kwan who is also the regional head of Research in Asia for Standard Chartered Bank.

For the past several years, some countries including the Philippines have been caught off guard by China and India's surging economy and this time the Philippines must identify its strength in positioning itself in the world market to stay competitive, otherwise the country will be totally left behind by the other countries in the region.

Kwan said, although the Philippines has developed a niche in the electronics industry, this might not be the case in the coming years if we chose to stagnate and refuse to evolve.

Thus, he strongly recommended focusing on potential advantages such as services, language proficiency and human resource.

He said if the Philippines were to leverage on high-value services especially in the ICT (Information, Communication Technology) sector, India will be its great competitor, in electronics and other manufacturing services, the country will also be competing with China.

In education, English proficiency, and eServices sectors, there is a good chance for the Philippines to take the lead in these areas, he observed.

Although, the outside analysts have identified these niches for the Philippines, Kwan said the country still has to draw specifications on how to effectively nurture these advantages.

He said that at present the Philippine economy is highly dependent on the remittances from the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and not on foreign direct investments.

He said the OFWs have contributed largely to the strong consumption in the domestic market, giving strength to the purchasing power of the Filipinos at the same time benefiting the economy.