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| Listen to him and those who think alike, not the naysayers! |
One of the biggest misconceptions about foreign direct investments (FDI) which usually come in the form of multinational corporations (MNCs) is that they don't provide jobs to locals. I guess the "empirical data" where it came from are from biased think-tanks like IBON Foundation.
Instead, let's talk about the real results which agree with the late Lee Kuan Yew's policies. Why am I citing Lee Kuan Yew? It's because Lee Kuan Yew is a credible person. I just finished reading From Third World to First and saw how FDIs played a role in the development of nations. Lee Kuan Yew had mentioned his trips to Vietnam, India, and China as well which have learned from his model. Deng Xiaoping who died in the late 1990s learned a lot from him too, Deng introduced free markets in China to finally enrich it. Deng even said, "Poverty isn't socialism. To be rich is glorious." It was all about jobs. Kishore Mahbubani of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy even said that saying FDIs are exploiters who rape resources is but a third-world mentality.
Economist Andrew J. Masigan of The Philippine Star had said otherwise. In fact, on December 22, 2021, Masigan boldy written in The Philippine Star that foreign direct investment is the silver bullet for the weakened economy. I would like to share a portion of the weakness in our current country while you read the rest of his article.
Unfortunately, the Philippines is rated the most restrictive in the whole of ASEAN as far as accepting foreign capital is concerned. No surprise, our FDI to GDP ratio is the second lowest among the region’s ten economies. From our peak intake of $10.256 billion in 2017, FDIs declined to $9.9 billion in 2018, $8.7 billion in 2019 and $6.4 billion in 2020. Our FDI intake is only half of that of Vietnam and a third of Indonesia’s.
The main impediments to the flow of FDIs in the country are the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution. The Constitution was written to protect industries for Filipinos, but it backfired. It has instead starved us of capital, jobs, export revenues and taxes. It created oligopolies made up of conglomerates owned by just a handful of families. These conglomerates control every aspect of the economy – from infrastructure to public utilities to retail. The few families that own these conglomerates earn scandalous profits even though they are inefficient.
Simply put, the 1987 Constitution is the reason why we have become the economic laggard in the region and why our income inequality is the worst among ASEAN’s major economies.
It's pretty much like how the late Carlos Celdran talked about the flaws of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. Masigan is an economist and businessman. Fortunately, Masigan hasn't subscribed to the "common thought" of Filipino economists who still think FDIs are "exploitative". Instead, he voiced out that the restrictions against FDI are indeed a problem for the Philippines. Later, Masigan decided to say that several laws were long overdue. Masigan and I may have had different candidates. However, Masigan had spoke as a true economist when he said that FDI restrictions have only made a few powerful at the expense of many.
Common sense will tell us FDIs primary job offering is for locals
I could think about a couple of foreign businesses I enjoy. I started falling in love with Taiwanese tea with Chatime and later added Gong Cha and Tiger Sugar. Before, there was McDonald's which was an alternative to Jollibee though I prefer Jollibee's "more Filipino taste" better. Now, Jollibee is a worldwide franchise proving Filipino investors can become world-class businessmen. I remembered dining out a lot. However, delivery services like Foodpanda (German) and Grab (Singaporean) are now available. I want some delicious Filipino food for dinner? I get to use Foodpanda or Grab to get some food from Chika-An, Golden Cowrie, and Mang Inasal. They're proof that FDis won't be providing jobs only for foreigners. Instead, FDIs will employ the local manpower first because it's the most accessible to them. The drivers for Foodpanda and Grab are Filipino. There's Filipino management in all these firms. The crew members are mostly Filipino. It's because these FDIs will employ Filipinos first because they're in the Philippines. It's like they'll employ Chinese first in China, Japanese first in Japan, Taiwanese first in Taiwan, etc. while they bring their managers and supervisors from abroad to teach new skills. Should local employees prove worthy of managerial and supervisory tasks then they can become authority figures in the foreign firm.
Yet, some people still want to spread what's now a blatant lie. For all we know, these guys are spreading their lies using iPhones and Mac PROs (while hating capitalism). Maybe, they're spreading their lies then they call Foodpanda or Grab to deliver them some food which is probably foreign-owned like McDonald's. They're probably drinking Starbucks and Coke Floats while spreading their lies. Maybe, these guys are even ordering milk tea from a Taiwanese firm providing jobs for Filipinos. The blatant lie is disproven when you look that these firms employ locals first. The hypocrisy of these guys is really jarring. I guess some of them don't even see they're contradicting themselves. Others may just be doing it for a fee or to maintain their power. Regardless, international marketing proves that the notion that FDIs will only provide jobs for foreigners is plain wrong. It's because FDIs will use whatever is readily available for them if they want to begin manufacturing. FDIs may buy local raw materials and employ locals as soon as possible to get started. The blatant lie should be disregarded for what it is--an obviously blatant lie!