Change does not come quick in the 3rd world. They only hurt themselves by fighting against progress. As long as they do not allow 100 percent ownership to foreign investors they will struggle to get said investors. When you have a country where 90 percent of the goods sold are owned by less than 1 percent of the population change will be slow.
Spending good cash on a lost cause ! I am certainly no Diplomat and I am sure never will be an entrepreneur But I would have too ask, If he can't offer his own people anything (Not even Hope) What does he think he can offer Europe or the US?
I was employed in the mid-1980's by the Hong Kong branch of a NY based international law firm. We had done research then for some foreign clients on the possibility of doing business in the Philippines. Pluses---educated, English-speaking (after a fashion) work force that was highly motivated by incentive pay, little competition for talented employees, inexpensive metro rents (comparatively), and a relatively central location in Asia--HOWEVER, the downsides of inadequate, intermittent infrastructure, no urban planning, ENDEMIC corruption, govt. instability, inability for foreign ownership of property, lack of enforcement of contracts (Rule of Law) and a terrible communication system---both land and electronic--made other Asian venues so much more attractive. Frankly, I do not see that much has changed in thirty years, nor does the prognosis for the future look bright to me. Living here as as a retired person is great---viewing the RP as a potential for large scale investment is laughable.
Seems JB was Right then! Do you Think he knows something we don't? {Do youJB?} JP :D (now retired YEP. here in Dumaguete. ( Ha! Ha! Looks like I joined a Good Club Them
