MERGED: RP among most restrictive in foreign investments?

[emow]

i like the article, it breathes some truth to what's happening with our country...BUT, targeting the current president is slightly missing the entire problem of this country..... its the government that makes our lives harder...the form of government, the size of government and its never ending interventionism with private lives of people...the personalities come and go, and all of them have been for more government taking care of us.... the more it regulates private citizens, businesses, corporations, the more it deprives the country of jobs and wealth.... the point is shed light on the right of arroyo to seek medical health anywhere she wants is so valid....no law can ever trample the civil liberties provided by the Constitution for us...and if we're going to review the laws that's running this country, we can see the transgressions of our rights, curtailed one at a time, if we view it against the Constitution...

[siopao1984]

World’s Worst Countries for Business





As the U.S. and Europe grapple with slowing growth, more businesses are turning attention to emerging markets for expansion and profits. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into countries such as Brazil, Russia, and Indonesia are at record highs, with Brazil attracting $48.4 billion dollars in 2010, an increase of 87 percent over 2009.

While it's difficult to resist the growth opportunities provided by emerging markets, running a successful business in many of these countries is far from easy.

We put together a list of the 10 most difficult countries to do business in from 50 of the world's largest economies. Our top 10 rankings are based on the World Bank's "Ease of Doing Business" study, which includes 183 countries.

The rankings take into account 10 leading indicators, such as the ease of starting a business, getting construction permits, paying taxes, and investor protection laws, to name a few.

The 2010 FDI data are from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), while the GDP numbers are from the World Bank.

Our list includes some economic superpowers, as well as some minnows.

4. Philippines

2010 GDP: $199.6 billion
2010 FDI: $1.7 billion

The Philippines is the lowest ranked Asian country on the list of the most difficult places to do business in. It attracted just 2.5 percent of the $76.5 billion of foreign direct investment that flowed to the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2010.

Despite having massive untapped mineral wealth, a key geographical location between Southeast and North Asia and a large, growing English-speaking population, the country has fallen behind its neighbors in economic growth.

Foreign businesses are wary of the Philippine's unstable legal system, violence, and bureaucracy. Its ease of doing business ranking from the World Bank fell a further two spots this year from 2010. The country also ranks among the lowest when it comes to starting a business, and resolving insolvency, with the latter taking more than five and half years, compared with an average one year and seven months in OECD countries.

Last month, Philippine President Benigno Aquino made trips to the U.S., China, and Japan to push for investments, as well as to send a message that things are changing in the country, after two previous administrations were dogged by corruption allegations. Aquino's trip to China resulted in $7 billion to $9 billion of potential investments.

The Philippines also jumped 10 places to 75th in the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index this year.

[jinfreecs]

luoya sa ato nasod oi...liman ka first sentence palang inani na ang description. The Philippines is the lowest ranked Asian country on the list of the most difficult places to do business in.

[hexo]

Great discussion so far,

I think we can't really tell if opening up the market would either hurt or actually improve our economy unless we implement it. All of what we're talking here are merely extrapolations.

also, i would like to ask.
If national industrialization is key in improving the country's economy, where will
we find the people proficient or the ones with the technical know-how considering that
most of our top filipino engineers, scientists, technologists are already enjoying their lives abroad?
or in other words, the brain-drain?

[whiteKelso]

dali ra na bro...offer job benefits, increase pay scale...i think most of the payscale here in the Philippines are
under payed..thats why they go abroad for better pay benefits..it will eventually work out as long as Govt has assets...one thing i can think of where to find the funds? of course we could tax the high paying jobs sector, or increase tax in business sector, where else? i think there are many options...only thing that really frustrates me, is those politicians are not up to these, they are up to protecting there assets...and i think nobody in congress would try to risk losing there money..

[gareb]

what strikes me as weird is how right-libertarians use the issue of a "constitutional protection" of Philippine oligarchy to open up the economy to foreign competition, when they already know that there would be a big tendency for a monopoly of foreign capital if that were to happen. so much for competition.

this regarding the fact that the Philippines has already fairly liberalized its markets a long time back, hence the flood of cheap imports from China and everywhere else. if this is not trade liberalization, then i do not know what this is.

clearly, the agenda of the right-libertarians is not to liberalize trade, but to find, saturate and exhaust all possible markets for excess goods and capital. neutralizing the oligarchy then, is an ingenious cover to supposedly make the entire thing more palatable.

[ghostie2472]

Why am I not surprised with this?

[amingb]

Mao ni gi ingon ba ... Thou Shall Not Touch The Cory Constitution ... the protector of the Oligarchs ....

[trollolol]

And still the best paying employers are foreign owned corporations, the best products are made in foreign owned corporations, and the fastest growing industry in the country at the moment is the bpo sector (very much foreign owned corporations.) When foreign companies such as callcenters start competing for market (labor) the end result seems to be to our benefit. When local companies start competing against each other, the end result seems to be to their benefit (cartels).

There is little to no incentive for local monopolies to innovate since markets are basically guaranteed and protected under law.

[miyay]

yes. and here's another reason why.

http://business.inquirer.net/29325/l...s-up-exporters