Industrial policy for the Philippines: GCCs are a bright spot

(Part 5)

- 

Instead of focusing immediately on potential “star” industries in the formulation of an industrial policy, it is wiser to identify those economic sectors which are conditio sine qua non for the growth of other industries.

For example, it is a no brainer that the hospitality industry (tourism) has tremendous growth potentials in the Philippines. The country is well known as the best beach destination in the world. Palawan has been rated by international tourism bodies as “the best island resort” in the world. The widespread use of English and the generally pleasant disposition of the Filipino are also positive factors for attracting foreign tourists to the archipelago.

The large inflow of foreign tourists to some of our ASEAN neighbors like Thailand, Vietnam, or Malaysia (with tourist arrivals recently numbering 15 to 30 million, compared to our less than 10 million) is evidence that the market demand is there. The harsh fact that the Philippines is struggling to go beyond 10 million foreign tourists annually can only be attributed to the severe lack of modern infrastructure such as world class international airports, railways, subways, etc., as exist not only in the four Tigers but also in our peer countries like Vietnam, Thailand, and Malayia.

That is why an industrial policy must give the highest importance to the building of infrastructure, especially in the countryside. There should be no letup in investing 6% of the GDP annually in infrastructure building which, in turn, will need a serious reorientation of tertiary education towards the technical training of construction workers. Needless to say, the primordial importance of efficient and abundant infrastructure should be greater reason to aggressively pursue the present efforts to rid our government of corrupt legislators, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, and dishonest private contractors (going all the way to sending them to jail if convicted).