PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is encouraging Filipinos to take an “active and constructive” part in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as he takes over as the chairman this year, Asean's 50th year.
If this is not clear enough to all entrepreneurs, then expect them to ride the slow boat to oblivion. Note, it's the 50th year and Philippines happens to chair it. It's a golden opportunity, indeed, and we now only have 11 months to make the most of it.
“Now more than ever, it is our spirit of ‘Bayanihan’ that has helped define us as a responsible leader of our region (Asean) during this crucial time,” the President said.
It's actually a call to all. Those who refuse to heed the call can just walk away into the sunset. It's no longer the President's fault, no longer anyone's fault in fact.
It's a fact that the Asean members are a distinct economic setting that can become a global power when harnessed together. Not only does the Asean have the resources, it also has the destinations, and manpower, and the creativity that every other economic grouping lusts for.
But, we prefer to bicker in our tiny worlds then blame government why Vietnam has overtaken us in terms of economic performance and infrastructure. We look down on grants and loans, preferring to squirrel away the littlest profit instead of investing and building while the market interest is high.
We know how it was as a student, right?
We were always on the red, money was always scarce. That is because the money we have is consumed by tuition, other fees, and cost of books and projects. But we go to school anyway, and why is that? Because higher schooling means better economic opportunities. Those who go the corporate way have more opportunities for higher-paying jobs. Those who take the entrepreneurial path learn the ropes and encounter best practices in case studies in school.
In short, schooling is an investment on the assets of a person, a capital expenditure (Capex), which might mean a period of suffering, making do, and a lot of budgeting. But all the scrimping will return a thousand-fold through much wider opportunities.
Like in business, Capex can reduce a company’s profitability in the short term, but bring in higher revenues in the long term. A businessman's lookout is to know when to take out Capex and on what it is going to spend on.
This is the same as in investing in infrastructure that the National Government is embarking fully on. Build, build, build, the government says. This is in recognition of the fact that for so long, public infrastructure has been relegated as non-essential, even neglected.
We have the history of power crisis every year in Mindanao to show for that. Government refused to invest in power and cannot be bothered with the power problem of Mindanao. What did this get us? Closed processing plants, lower profit, dire straits.
Government has embarked on massive spending on physical assets just as the Philippines is being handed a golden opportunity this year. Grab it and go for the gold.