IT was a pleasure to speak before the members of the Rotary Club of Makati Central last week about the lessons learned from cycles and what happens when those cycles change particularly in regard to 2023.
I also said that we will see more capital inflows to the Philippines over the next 24 months. However, I am concerned that our quest for more foreign investment is confusing. What industry/sector do we really want foreign money to invest in? It is nice to see the new Ikea store but they are not competition against local businesses.
Excluding our number one value import—“Mineral fuels including oil”—all the rest of our top imports are manufactured and require a strong raw material supply. These are Vehicles, Iron and steel, Pharmaceuticals, and plastics/plastic articles. And in 2020, the Philippines was the world’s largest importer of Copra.