
Originally Posted by
raski
I really think the question of whether or not filipino-owned businesses can survive foreign competition locally is irrelevant given our globalized economy. If they are not investing here, they are investing somewhere else and those companies will still be competing with our local businesses anyway.
There are huge advantages to allowing foreign firms to invest here. Most foreign firms pay the right tax, for example, the real estate tax because they do not want or are not accustomed to or are simply not allowed to give grease money. As such, this will contribute to the professionalization (choke guffaw) of the BIR and Customs.
Local businessmen on the other hand are accustomed to corruption and actively collude with the BIR and Customs. This results in lower tax revenues for the government but also serves as an unfair advantage against foreign firms.
So here's the dilemma: if we were to allow 100% foreign ownership, will it really matter or even make a real difference? That presumes that foreign companies are going to want to come here and deal with our corruption, inefficiency and lack of infrastructure. Question here is: why would they invest here instead of in China or India where everything is fast-tracked for them and there is not the amount of red tape that we have here? The answer is pretty simple...