I wrote last week that sadly Filipino billionaires notably the Sy (SM brand) family has their priorities wrong. They deploy their money on quick-income generators like malls and condos. I guess they want ostentatious display of riches to make them more attractive and a point of envy by society at large. There is no sense of sacrifice to invest on long-term manufacturing business that will create more jobs and prosper the country as a whole.
There is dearth of industrialists in the Philippines who can lead the country to industrialization to go toe to toe with its Asian neighbors, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, to name a few.
At this time when China and the U.S. are engaged in a protracted tariff war, China’s exports are showing a bleeding downtrend. Of course the effect of the trade warfare is not one way alone. Even the production sectors of the U.S. are feeling the harmful crunch. President Trump called on the U.S. importers to look for sources outside China. It appears that Vietnam is now the sweetheart of importers as a result. Its exports are growing leaps and bounds.
The analysis of the chief economist at Aletheia Capital, Jim Walker, whose insights via the SmartKarma platform, is worth noting. In his article, “Taking Off: Vietnamese Exports Are Rocking and Rolling”, Walker notes, “No country in Southeast Asia is better placed than Vietnam to accept some of the production move out of China that is inevitable and partly as a result of the current trade tensions.”
And what do we have in the Philippines? Bickering among politicians with their usual corruption practices, mind-boggling government multi-million behest loans turned write offs, given by the past administration to big ally companies whose owners and CEOs are a fixture of the Aquino’s “elite club”, There are the miscreant communist groups funded by party-list politicians from their pork barrel funds, prying on and deceiving college kids to boost their terrorist ranks, the catholic bishops and elite media co-opting with the disgraced opposition party to subvert the Duterte government so they can snatch power again and enjoy government treasury as their personal bank account.
It is disgruntling to wake up one day when Vietnam has outdone Philippines once more in economic growth.
