Tealive Bangsamoro: A Huge FDI Opportunity

Tealive Asia, the man in the picture is CEO and actor Fikry Ibrahim,
hoping to see him in the Bangsamoro Region soon

I did write a few articles about Tealive. These were about my experience at Ayala Central Bloc, how I'm currently fascinated with Tealive's palm sugar series, and the origins of Tealive in Malaysia. The current CEO is Fikry Ibrahim of Malaysia (above). Ibrahim was made Chief Expresso Officer (CEO) of Tealive. I felt that I needed to write this article because I found what might be a new business opportunity for developing Mindanao.

I did some research on palm sugar and ended up writing about the Masarang Foundation in Indonesia. I advocated for ease concerning equity restrictions where certain industries only allow FDIs to own less than 50% (such as the 60-40 arrangement) to allow them to invest without having to look for a Filipino partner. I'm still against the sales of land to foreigners like a mall owner doesn't sell their spaces to tenants. With Masarang and Tealive in mind, I really think that a business opportunity for the development of the Bangsamoro region in Mindanao.

Reading the history of Tealive, its owner Bryan Loo, used to be the CEO of Chatime Malaysia. Tealive uses only halal ingredients. Tealive has become the fastest-growing Southeast Asian milk tea brand. I'd say it's because the ingredients have a sense of familiarity that may not be found in Chatime, Gong Cha, or any of my favorite Taiwanese-Chinese tea brands. I tried their Aren (palm sugar) Caramel series, their fruit shakes, and their tea and there seems to be this "near Filipino taste". I can't help but sing the Indonesian or Sinama song "Dayang Dayang" after drinking a serving of Aren Caramel drink. It reminded me of my trip to Surigao. I remembered how we ate breadfruit and banana dipped in delicious palm sugar caramel. I had no idea that palm sugar was used in some Filipino rice cake desserts like suman (budbud) and biko. 

Source: Tealive Asia
Can you imagine this was in Bangsamoro?

The picture of these Malaysian women in hijabs makes me think, "What if Tealive can open in Bangsamoro?" Ibrahim is pretty much what might be referred to as an ethnic Malaysian, in contrast to Bryan Loo, a Chinese of Malaysian citizenship. The Hokkien word "huan-a" can refer to ethnic Malays. It should be noted that most Filipinos are either of Malaysian or Indonesian descent. Not surprisingly, the word Loob for Loob Holdings means inside. The Malaysian word for scared is takut while the Tagalog version is takot. The term huan-a can therefore be extended to Filipinos because most of them are descended from either Malaysian or Indonesian. Notice that most people in the Philippines resemble Malaysians and Indonesians. Also, ethnic groups in the Philippines resemble aboriginal tribes from Taiwan, who are obviously of Malaysian or Indonesian origin.

The Bangsamoro Region started later in the reign of the late former Philippine president, Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III. Later on, during the reign of former Philippine president, Rodrigo R. Duterte, an interesting development happened with Malaysian ties. That was when former Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, saw the potential of the Bangsamoro Region. Tealive is a Malaysian company after all. It would make sense if Tealive should see Bangsamoro as its possible next customer. Both Malaysia and Bangsamoro are predominantly Muslim areas. Tealive has a very Southeast Asian taste too. 

What can the Philippines learn from Malaysia? Malaysia is a very FDI-friendly, parliamentary-federal country. That makes the arguments of Facebook troll pages against constitutional reform moot. Malaysia's more stable policies are not just because Mahathir Mohamad is a better leader than Aquino III, Duterte, or incumbent Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. It has to do with how the parliamentary form of government's systemic nature is all about platforms over personalities. 

Some can say, "But only Tealive will benefit from this deal!" Do I need to say for the billionth time that the idea is a very third-world mentality? This time, I'd like to quote from Mahathir Mohamad (and I got the quotes from here since I don't have any book by him yet) from the book A Doctor in the House (a book I might read soon) on page 308:

Nevertheless the increase in foreign investments helped to create jobs and so lowered the unemployment rate, which was high at the time. Our approach differed from those of Japan and Korea, where the preference was for acquiring foreign technology for investment by the locals.

We did not have local entrepreneurs with the money or the willingness to invest in industries they were not familiar with. It was only after many years that the Malaysians acquired the knowledge and industrial skills to invest in manufacturing.

Thus it was through FDI that we succeeded in converting our agricultural economy into an industrial economy and eventually solving our unemployment problem.” (p. 308)

Further from page 334 of A Doctor in the House, also writes:

Managing a manufacturing industry is very difficult and there was no substantial industry in Malaysia at that time that we could take our lessons from.

We went for foreign investments because we did not have locals who were willing to take the leap. Locals wanted to stay within their comfort zones. When there is no competition in the mix, it is easy to get away with low quality, bad management, dirty processes and inefficiency.

But in a competitive environment, you must always be on guard. You have to look for ways to improve your product and be more cost-efficient. If you do not, you can be very sure that your competitors will be doing exactly that. Tax protection may provide some comfort but it should not make things too easy and discourage effort. It should certainly not cultivate bad attitudes and habits.”

If there aren't so many local businesses in Mindanao, one solution is to get Tealive to invest in Mindanao. Maybe, they can also focus their operations on Bangsamoro before hitting more areas. Though, they can also offer expansion in other areas like Surigao, Butuan, Misamis, and Davao. In this case, I see Bangsamoro as a potent source of operations. 

Mindanao is near Indonesia and Malaysia. Mindanao also houses the fruit called kaong or arenga. It should be a no-brainer that Tealive Philippines might try to take advantage of the palm trees in Mindanao. Masarang International should also operate in Mindanao to give more development to Filipinos in Mindanao. Masarang can also operate in Bangsamoro first. Tealive Philippines might want to open a new outlet called Tealive Bangsamoro. It would give more jobs to people in Mindanao. Mindanao would be a new turning point in producing palm sugar, which in turn, can help agriculture as well.

Tealive will still be required to follow Filipino environmental laws. The late Lee Kuan Yew also talked about Singapore's green capitalism. What's important is not that the company is Filipino or foreign. What's important to me is that the company can provide jobs for Filipinos and more taxes for the Philippines.