Full industrialization is the country’s hope

One of the well-respected economists in the lower house is veteran Rep. Joey Salceda of Albay. In a recent interview on ANC’s After the Fact, he identified that the very core of our problem is the lack of investment capital for full industrialization and development of the economy. He zeroed in on legislation and policies that should allow more direct foreign investments (FDIs) into the country.

Let’s look at some data and compare how we fared in inviting FDIs with other countries in the region.

Take, for example, how a country smaller than the Philippines, Vietnam, devastated by civil war, rose from the economic cellar and could entice more foreign capital to their country than we do. Their FDIs grew from $19.1 billion in 2018 to $35.46 billion in 2019, mainly from Japan, South Korea and Singapore investors.

In comparison, the Philippines’ FDI was $6.6 billion in 2018 but dropped to $5.0 billion in 2019, according to an UNCTAD bulletin. The bulletins in the web, by the way, are full of aggressive come-on advertisements from Vietnam to invest in their country, highlighting the ease of starting and doing business with them.

Of late, Vietnam has already overtaken the Philippines in per capita GDP. Inconsistent business policies and environment in the Philippines might be causing serious uncertainties to foreign investors.

Rep. Salceda has given full support to VP Leni Robredo’s candidacy because he believes she’s the most prepared, competent with proven integrity and track record of accomplishments in public service. One of VP Robredo’s key priority programs of government is to provide employment to the growing workforce by pursuing enabling legislation and policies to allow more FDIs into the country with ease-of- doing-business to boot. – Marvel K. Tan, [email protected]