by Nicasio Angelo Agustin
The business sector is the engine of economic growth. It propels the emergent opportunities and the quiescent potentials of any striving economy. At the very least, the sector could infuse capital which would result to the generation of jobs, the creation and production of more goods in the market, and the opportunity for the government to collect more taxes and the consequent provision of more public goods and services for the benefit of the people.
With the onset of the 2010 elections, however, there are valid fears that new investments would be sluggish during the campaign period up to election time, and may even extend up to the end of the year as firms have started to display a wait-and-see attitude. It is then anticipated that the national and local economies would somehow slowdown a bit this year – being an election year.
We may ask: “What are firms waiting for and wanting to see?” before they continue to fuel up the investment or economic engine? After all, firms – old and new alike – have probably studied their own markets. They already know what opportunities are there – what the people need and want. They know what types of investment they could put their resources into. Then, what else do they need to know? What else are they waiting for and wanting to see?
They are waiting for the results of the elections. It is not only the winning candidates that they want to see. They want to see whether the elections would be conducted successfully in terms of employing acceptable, fair and just processes and devoid of alarming and massive disorders and fraud. They want to see democracy in action as the ultimate gauge whether or not our current leaders and candidates have matured well enough to act out their idealism and stand guard for what they promise as better ways of managing the affairs of government. Election is a grand event where our leaders – both those who have long been exhausted yet still enamored by public service, and those who are yet aspiring to become such – can showcase their leadership, and how they can cause the whole community to behave as it should. It is in this undertaking whereby the firms could detect how resolute our candidates are in establishing a conducive environment for their businesses to thrive.
The aspirations of the firms are quite simple, yet complex. Simple and complex in the sense that everybody can easily understand them but which, on the other hand, is difficult to attain. First, firms would want a stable policy environment. Business firms deal with a lot of risks and they expect the political environment not to aggravate the vulnerability of the market. Second, firms are concerned with the cost or ease of doing business. National policies and guidelines as well as more specific and detailed facilitative local procedures would go a long way in enticing new investments to come in, and old and flourishing businesses to further prosper. Labor productivity and minimum wage-related concerns are some of the most serious problems in doing business which need utmost attention. And finally, firms would want to operate unperturbed by war and community discord.
These said, political leaders are expected to spark those economic engines with the flame of creativity, resourcefulness, decisiveness, sincerity and unquestionable integrity. Only then can our business sector contribute significantly to our economic growth.
Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.
