Our focus on investment is very encouraging

Finally we all seem to be focused on investment. Over several decades we unwittingly embraced a ‘make-do’ attitude instead of being in the driver’s seat? A ‘small’ country can be in the driver’s seat like Singapore is more competitive than the US?

It is not a surprised because we started with import-substitution, a classic ‘make-do’ posture, for instance. (The Indians were in a similar world, and just like us they erected plenty of barriers to hold foreign investments at bay. China, on the other hand, upon embracing a market economy, aggressively tapped foreign investments – and became the 2^nd largest economy.) And then for decades we took the same ‘make-do’ attitude with our OFWs – their remittances made us proud, raising our foreign exchange reserves and making the peso stable to strong; and fueled our consumption economy. But forgetting we were suffering from a classic Dutch disease – when a nation’s source of revenues is not founded on strong economic fundamentals like strong investment that drives industrialization, we would not develop the requisite competitive muscle? And our neighbors have it as we know now – i.e., we talk about what they’ve done against our inability to move ahead?

That reality is reflective of an adolescent nation? We expected the rest of the world, especially the big countries, to allow us to keep our ‘training wheels’. Not unexpected from a young country, nor a negative. The problem as we know is that kids allowed their training wheels longer than necessary don’t develop confidence and conviction – our industries did not develop global competitiveness, for example? The writer did not warm up to George W. Bush because every achievement they claimed was with the benefit of his training wheels, i.e., he was born in third base and didn’t hit a triple and demonstrated arrogance (e.g., ‘Mission Accomplished’), not conviction? They say his IQ is superior, but that’s suspect if we apply the ‘cost-benefit yardstick’ Cheney talked about to Iraq, for instance.

(The writer bumped into the Monsignor, a proud Benedictine (and May he rest in peace!), one Sunday many years ago after mass. And he had a word with the writer: “I understand your daughter is enrolling at an Ivy – they are very liberal; there are Jesuit schools in the area? She’s our best student and graduated at the top of her class, and so I am interested.” The writer’s response in part: ‘she’s a product of our parish school and the Benedictine all-girls school in Manila – where she developed her study habits. And between the schools, the church and the family, my sense is she’s equipped enough to face the real world’.)

Of course, we had to invoke love of country, forgetting that growing up – being confident to deal with countries, big and small – is a requisite for development, economic development . . . unless we want to perpetuate a cacique-like culture? Now, decades behind our neighbors, at least we’re focusing on investment? And it’s never too late? We owe our local investors a lot for their commitment and desire to help the country. CSR, promoting SMEs, investing in infrastructure are all remarkable initiatives. Yet the level of our investments lags and thus the state of our industrialization leaves much to be desired – it is the starting point, the root cause, of why we are uncompetitive? Thus it is encouraging that the business community is raising the need to get the airport in Manila up to international, competitive standards instead of being a white elephant (i.e., NAIA 3); the critical state of our power and water sources, among others.

Now that we’ve set our sights on pursuing an investment-driven economy, we ought to keep the focus? In the meantime, poverty will keep staring us in the eye. There is no shortcut to cutting poverty? Even the US is suffering from it despite the government’s social programs, the church (the Catholic Church is the largest charitable institution) and very generous private individuals – which we can’t duplicate? We just have to bite the bullet and be gritty: move forward, and learn from emerging economies that saw major reductions in poverty as their economies grew – which we can replicate?

Vested interests will always be around, but it’s about time we become one and move the country forward? Indeed a ‘small’ country can be in the driver’s seat . . . and doesn’t have to ‘make-do’?