How else to explain our inability to upend our restrictive economy? There is a Tagalog word for it, "volatile." As in: fickle = capricious, undependable, unfaithful, unsteady, flighty, giddy. In other words, the absence of constancy.
Then consider that in the 21st century innovation and global competitiveness are the price of entry. There is no free lunch. Free enterprise is not free. And freedom is not free either.
And it presupposes a sense of foresight that will inform the imperative of investment. Note that this is ground zero in the here and now and thus the lack of foresight in Juan de la Cruz and by extension his inability to commit to investment will explain why we are today the regional laggard.
The evidence? Beyond the imploding ecology of Baguio or Boracay or Palawan or Panglao or every major metro area, think how we denuded our forests against how Sweden turned their forest industry into a virtuous circle. In less than 100 years they doubled their forest assets with the fall rate less than the growth rate. Or simply put, the world will not run out of toilet paper. Thanks to the Swedes.
What about SMEs and subsistence farming? Foresight is ... still the way forward, not paternalism.
And why the blog talked about:
(a) Denmark's pig industry, a global success model, that is an outcome of Danish cooperative ethos. [Translation: We can not just laugh off crab mentality. We must learn, and even go through the pain, and pull resources together to: (a) attain critical mass (b) and economies of scale and (c) generate greater wealth.]
(b) The writer's Eastern European friends who imagined and visualized themselves as the best in the business ... to overcome their instincts developed over decades being the poorest nation in Europe while under Soviet rule.
And in both cases, innovation and global competitiveness come in spades.
Enter: A growth mindset and not a fixed mindset. And that is the barrier which we Pinoys struggle to overcome. Juan de la Cruz is the poster boy of the fixed mindset.
The evidence? We have been on a downward spiral given how the world has left us behind. It is no longer the Asian Tigers and our neighbors that are our peers. Even nations we used to discount are outpacing us.
What virtue do we invoke? That our ideology is grounded in our faith? What about the story of creation ... and evolution and Darwin? Man was pronounced by the Creator to be good, being in his image and likeness. And Economics mirrors evolution with man's ever-changing needs and wants. And why there is a boom and bust cycle.
Although in the bigger scheme of things, they brought about two World Wars. Yet man is good and will get things back in sync with a lot of effort, of course. And it applies even to disruptive innovations otherwise we would still be living in caves.
[Or are we? Consider: The 3 senators charged with plunder are all qualified to run ... and we will elect them again? Think Marcos, Estrada and Arroyo. And now Enrile, Estrada and Revilla?]
How do we migrate from paternalism and charity to freedom is not free and carries inherent responsibility? We need to shift paradigms. Obviously easier said than done.
And why we need a Roosevelt and his fireside chats. In other words, true leadership. Not extra judicial killings. Not a culture of impunity.
In the meantime we add insult to injury, that is, our bias against FDI. And it stems from our inherent values of parochialism and insularity, hierarchy, political patronage and oligarchy. Where is our culture of impunity coming from ... again?
But we still do not get it?
Here's how the wife explains our instincts as they apply within the family which wittingly or extend beyond: "We like freebies, and why investing is not in our DNA." And thus by the third generation an inherited fortune typically runs to the ground. The wife knows whereof she speaks: the family's fortune was built by the "lola" and handed down to the children and then the grandchildren where it has been dispersed.
Ergo: Lack of foresight undermines (a) economies of scale, (b) the multiplier effect of investment and (c) wealth generation.
Even in America given the short-term pressure from Wall Street, traditional CEOs can not look beyond the horizon. Enter: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and their cohort.
Let's bring it back to PH where tradition rules - as in a restrictive economy - and we will appreciate how far the world has left us behind?
And why the blog introduced "perceptive judgment." And it comes from experience and why despite the gains we posted especially over the last 6 years, we lag the world whether reckoned over a 20-year period or 50-year period.
What is laughable is we're celebrating these gains when at the fork in the road we opted for "pwede na 'yan" instead of calling on our foresight and put all our eggs in one basket, OFW remittances ... And then the BPO industry.
Like it or not, we've turned into a loser and why we would want to gloss over reality? Then think rapid economic development like the Asian Tigers that was founded on FDIs - after begging the West for money and technology - as well as rapid infrastructure development and rapid industrialization.
The operative word is "rapid," that is, if indeed we want to overcome poverty. But can we in the elite class really understand the extent of PH poverty? Imagine and visualize a country the size of Australia where everyone is poor. While Romania is not big enough; we have more poor people than their total population.
And there is a converse to "rank has its privileges" and that is, "command responsibility." Simply put, we in the elite class can not wash our hands while PH is on a downward spiral. And this brings to mind what born-again Christians call dying to oneself, ie, transformation demands surrender.
As Richard Rohr, a Franciscan, would say it, "there is a cruciform shape to reality ... loss precedes all renewal ... emptiness makes way for every new infilling ... every transformation in the universe requires the surrendering of a previous form. "
And beyond the spiritual is also the social science, ie, in Kurt Lewin's Change Management model, it is expressed as: Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze.
Let's test our comprehension of our challenge with this news report: "Bill creating Central Luzon investment authority hurdles committees," Charmaine A. Tadalan, BusinessWorld, 2nd Dec 2018.
Promising or will the outcome make us cry? Consider: "FOREIGN business groups said various items of legislation to remove foreign investment limits remain on their wish list before the conclusion of the 17th Congress.
"At a briefing after the Arangkada forum ... the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines said it continues to bat for rule changes covering foreign ownership limits to better align the legislature's output with the government's intended program." [Foreign chambers warn some bills are 'stagnating,' Janina C. Lim, BusinessWorld, 28th Nov 2018]
Let's then test our: (a) sense of foresight or the ability to look forward beyond the horizon; (b) capacity to look outward; (c) bias to benchmark and (d) learn from others? The acid test being: Are we up to the task?
Consider: "Since the onset of China's reform program, the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone has been the fastest growing portion of the fastest growing province in the fastest growing large economy in the world. In the process, a region that once once largely agricultural has emerged as a manufacturing platform of global importance. It is a world leader in the production of electronic goods, electrical products, electrical and electronic components, watches and clocks, toys, garments and textiles, plastic products, and a range of other goods.
"For the first ten years of China's economic reform process, the internationalization of the Chinese economy was largely a Pearl River Delta phenomenon, with the export-oriented production of foreign-invested entities based in Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Guangzhou leading the way. In recent years, the development environment for indigenous private-owned enterprises has improved dramatically in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone and local firms are now playing an ever-growing role in the region's economy. In this regard, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, and other parts of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone have been at the forefront of private sector development in China. "[Wikipedia]
Can we read that one more time with feeling? Can we imagine and visualize PH internationalizing the Philippine economy with export-oriented production of foreign invested entities like China did? Where for the first ten years of China's economic reform process it was largely a Pearl River Delta [region] phenomenon? And here's the twist: today local firms are playing an ever-growing role in the region's economy!
If it is not obvious yet, the blog often speaks to "imagination and visualization." It is how the writer introduced his Eastern European friends to lateral thinking and creative and critical thinking and guided them through the innovation process (in product development) and global competitiveness. The operative words being "introduce" and "guide" because they have the inherent capacity to create world-class products. And why they are destined for greater heights and glory.
It comes back to foresight that informs the dynamic of investment and growth. Enter: Experience. The more they learn from experience including making mistakes, the more they develop the confidence to stand toe-to-toe against competition, big and small, including Western behemoths.
It's a roundabout way to explain "perceptive judgment." And yes, mistakes enrich the learning experience. And why kids are more creative. Consider: While elders like to tell them "do not" kids hate the word. Thank God for kids. See above re Wall Street and traditional CEOs.
The experience gained from failures and setbacks builds resilience. And why children must be given the opportunity to experience failure and realize they can survive it. Treating them as fragile makes them so. That's from Peter Gray, psychology professor emeritus, Boston College.
Conversely, does our sheltered upbringing explain our culture of impunity? Fragile as we are, do we expect paternalism, rely on patronage and submit to hierarchy that breeds tyranny? This is a challenge for our social scientists to fathom. We can not just helplessly watch our downward spiral!
And we can likewise pick the brains of our Chinoys if we want to establish why they dominate PH economy.
It also explains why Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google dominate the 21st century global industry. They have an abundance of confidence in assessing the dynamic between investment and growth given their respective experiences - characterized by multifaceted failures and setbacks.
If we still can not decipher what foresight is, we can take a page from the Pearl River Delta story ...
And the challenge is especially great for the Central Luzon investment authority. Because it must set the tone to positively impact the rest of the Philippines.
The Pearl River Delta accounts for 20% of China's economy (2005) against two-thirds in the case of Luzon (from Hacienda Luisita down to Calabarzon.)
But we have not demonstrated such a game-changing enterprise before. And why we must think ecosystem and a virtuous circle. Conversely, we must figure out why we failed to deliver an energy development program, for example.
Because an energy development plan is bound to fail if it is narrowly designed. As in: We had no industrialization plan to speak of and so the biggest concern was to not overburden Juan de la Cruz with his utility bills.
We must have a grander goal!
We must have a grander goal ... but that demands foresight ... in: (a) rapid economic development; (b) rapid infrastructure development; and (c) rapid industrialization.
What is the challenge for the Central Luzon investment authority then?
It must generate a massive impact on PH economic development, including drive GDP per capita. That must be the mindset and not worry about the bias for Luzon or imperial Manila, for example. It is not ideology or an opposite bias, it is physics as the blog has discussed time and again.
Where there is mass and weight and momentum, there is energy and power. Those in the private sector know this from experience especially from efforts to identify growth drivers and why there is data analytics. But not only. Take the above China example.
But this is where we truly need foresight, a vision. It must be beyond Clark ... being the next big thing. We failed with Makati and Bonifacio and did not turn either into a Singapore.
In other words, dissect ... and learn from the Pearl River Delta phenomenon and make Central Luzon a manufacturing platform of global importance. Then think which of the JFC's seven big industry winners can indeed make PH win in the global arena.
That their products and services will generate the largest revenues and margins because they meet the yardstick of innovation ... and are globally competitive. And then create the ecosystem - and this is where rapid infrastructure development comes in, including energy development, as well as auxiliary and support industries and linkages to the rest of the country - that will turn the enterprise into a virtuous circle.
More to the point, why do not we copy the development plans of Pearl River Delta and / or Singapore like Thailand copied ours?
And what if our legislators and economic managers take a pause - so that we stop doing the same thing over and over again, as in insanity - and work out how we can overcome "it's possible"?
Gising bayan!
"Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it. "[We are ruled by Rizal's 'tyrants of tomorrow,' Editorial, The Manila Times, 29th Dec 2015]
" Now I know why Paul dared to speak of 'the curse of the law' (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant. "[Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]
"As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media - their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists and editors - have an obligation to this country. . . "[Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]
"National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country's natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency's value, as classical economics insists. . . A nation's competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade. "[The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter , Harvard Business Review, March-April 1990]
"Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow. "[William Pollard, 1911-1989, physicist-priest, Manhattan Project]
"Development [is informed by a people's] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership. . . "[Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]
No comments:
Post a Comment