I have long believed that the Philippines will weather the current recession better than most countries. By any standard the Philippines is well-placed. The most important factors are:
1. Strong remittances - the recession has not greatly decreased remittances from abroad
2. Mining - Mineral prices have collapsed but they still offer attractive returns
3. Tourism - The Philippines is at the cheaper end of the market, so it is unlikely to suffer
4. Structural shift in employment - There is a structural shift in jobs from foreign call centres to the Philippines.
5. Population growth of 2% per annum in the Philippines
6. Healthy economy - the government is in pretty good shape. There is no huge overhang of public or private sector debt like the bad old days. For this reason I suggest the Philippines will be looking at a property boom like Thailand in a few years.
In recent times I've seen continued moves by western firms to shift some of their call centre activities to the Philippines. The latest is Vodafone Australia and about two months ago Telecom NZ were doing the same thing. Expect more of this type of behaviour, and it will increasingly involve smaller companies outsourcing call centre activities.
1. Strong remittances - the recession has not greatly decreased remittances from abroad
2. Mining - Mineral prices have collapsed but they still offer attractive returns
3. Tourism - The Philippines is at the cheaper end of the market, so it is unlikely to suffer
4. Structural shift in employment - There is a structural shift in jobs from foreign call centres to the Philippines.
5. Population growth of 2% per annum in the Philippines
6. Healthy economy - the government is in pretty good shape. There is no huge overhang of public or private sector debt like the bad old days. For this reason I suggest the Philippines will be looking at a property boom like Thailand in a few years.
In recent times I've seen continued moves by western firms to shift some of their call centre activities to the Philippines. The latest is Vodafone Australia and about two months ago Telecom NZ were doing the same thing. Expect more of this type of behaviour, and it will increasingly involve smaller companies outsourcing call centre activities.
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2 comments:
I agree with you totally.. I think the Philippines is a land of opportunity and in many cases could follow Hong Kong if it developed its ways a bit more to a Western Market. Also I believe the increase in foreign investment currently runs at 12% a year increase which pretty much says it all especially with so many sectors looking to cut costs.
My blog :- http://www.tropicalpenpals.coms
You know why our country hasn't been greatly affected by the recession? Mainly because we believe that we have long been battling and surviving recession. It's something that is not new to us. We're just to being poor, unlike the Western countries that are just to a too comfy lifestyle and suddenly baffled by some sudden shift of circumstances. Those things that you mentioned have indeed kept us afloat and actually provided advantages to us. I work in a call center and the recession has not only strengthen the potentials of the Philippines as an outsourcing capital of the world but has helped the Filipinos prove ourselves worthy of these foreign so generously give us. Also, as Steve Pavlina puts it, the recession provide opportunities to those who have always been providing quality services. As people want to get the most of their monies, they seek service providers that really provide such great quality and thus, it doesn't really affect those who have long been doing their jobs. It's a survival of the fit and our circumstances must have long prepared us for these trial periods. You see, Philippines just keeps rocking it while the rest of the world may be a bit injured. Another advantage of the Philippines is that we are surrounded by developing and economically growing countries like China and India which are also leading partners in export products. There's just so much potential in the Philippines, it's funny how it needs a worldwide depression to unleash it.
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