Easing Restrictions For Foreign Investments Opposed

[Mr Lee]

I believe they are wrong and allowing foreign ownership of at least homes of reasonable size, would encourage people to move to the Philippines and open businesses, thus produce more jobs and a better life for locals. What do you think? Would you open a business and sink in your hard earned cash into a country which will not even allow you the rights to own your own home? What would be wrong if they offered an investment visa whereas a person who invests into their country could eventually gain citizenship, or at the very least a guarantee that they would be able to stay forever, if they wanted to, and even if they sold their business or it went under, after all the investment was made and the money was spent in the country, so a person should be rewarded for taking the chance and that reward should also include the right to own the land under a home of reasonable size, should a person care to. Living in a country where a person has no rights is unfair, I say give investors some rights and watch the money then flow in. Monday, October 3, 2011NO RELATIONSHIP exists between opening up the economy for more foreign investments and sustainable employment, a militant think tank said.Ibon, which is opposing proposals to amend the Constitution's economic provisions, said foreign direct investment (FDI) has been pouring into the Philippines over the last decades but with little to show in terms of overall economic development. FDIs are long-term investments, including those placed in fixed assets such as factories and equipment and equity in local companies. FDIs are the opposite of portfolio investments, which are placed in bonds or stocks and are easily convertible to cash."Foreign investors have been able to make their profits but the supposed gains for economy and the people in terms of jobs, poverty reduction, industrialization and an advanced economy have not materialized," Ibon said.The group said increasing FDI has actually been accompanied by rising unemployment, increasing labor export, falling real wages, shrinking domestic manufacturing, and increasingly volatile growth.The share of manufacturing in the economy has been steadily falling and, at 22.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 8.3 percent of employment in 2010, is already as small as in the 1950s, IBON said.Annual inward FDI flows, in turn, increased from $114 million in 1980 to $1.71 billion in 2010. Unemployment, however, averaged at seven percent during the same period.Senate and House leaders last week agreed that "only economic provisions" in the Constitution would be up for review.President Benigno Aquino III already junked the proposal but his ally Senator Franklin Drilon assured transparency in the process, saying legislators will not proceed with the initiative if it would be unacceptable to the publicLink to this story

[Jollygoodfellow]

Third world country for another hundred years. You would think the think tank with their head in the sand would have a look at their neighbors and notice how far behind the times they are. Take out all the foreign owned business such as call centers and factory's then have another look at the employment figures,just unbelievable how they say no relationship exist between employment and growth of the economy.I think someone got paid to kill the the idea. :thumbsup: