by Nicasio Angelo Agustin
After his trip to the US, the President reported that investment opportunities from the US business sector loom in the horizon. It is easy to attract foreign investors to our country now because of the high popularity rating of the new administration plus the availability of cheap labor and raw materials. Yet, keeping them here for a good length of time is another thing.
Investors, foreign and local alike, simply come and go. Some big multinational corporations came and did their businesses here, but even before they could make a significant dent in our economy, they packed up and left. Our neighboring Asian economies have more to offer than what we probably can – cheaper labor cost, more abundant material resources, more efficient support facilities and clear-cut business policies devoid of political pressures, under the table business deals and red tape. Business deals are concluded smoothly despite the language barrier in some of these Asian countries.
Our national quest for more capital inflows to the country is mirrored at the local level. The new sets of officials are eager and ready to transform their communities into havens of commerce and industry, booming with prosperity and progress. This early, they want to make a difference that will set them apart from their predecessors, the better to ensure that the legacy they leave behind at the end of their terms of office in 2013 will serve them in good stead when they seek reelection or, better still, election to a higher post. Whatever it is that motivates them, as long as it changes people’s lives in a positive way, that’s the way to go as far as they are concerned.
Certainly, economic progress and growth requires a partnership between the private sector and the government. The industry and business sectors are the engines of growth. They propel local economic activities and opportunities which allow individuals and households to realize their human and material aspirations. Hence, local governments strive ever harder to attract industries to locate to their areas.
One important requisite potential investors always look for is a good local business climate. The local government is thus expected to create an environment conducive to smooth and unbridled business operations. This requires an excellent and decent business direction supported by respectable and desirable local policies and ordinances. Attracting businesses without these requirements is an exercise in futility.
A no-nonsense business direction is a clear, shared and mutually beneficial vision among stakeholders – the government, the politicians, the local business players and the local residents. It is not just a development plan formulated by an inner circle in the local executive branch but an idea, a preposition, a knowledge embedded in the hearts and minds of all concerned. It is something that everybody knows well and aspires for.
Based on some observations, rarely do we see a good business plan crafted by both the executive and legislative branches of local governments. It is not enough to have a plan from the executive branch; after all, the legislative branch possesses the sole power and authority to formulate and approve plans, to allocate funds and other resources, and to enact laws and ordinances to regulate and control as well as to encourage business activities. The legislative branch plays these critical roles and thus should also have an ownership of such plans.
Before any investment comes in, it is necessary for the executive and legislative branches to lay everything on the table and resolve issues which may later on discourage rather encourage investors to locate; for them to take a common ground, a joint strategy, a united and collective action rather than taking the opposite sides and shooting at each other.
Almost always, however, these are easier said than done. But when the executive and legislative branches and all parties concerned – political and otherwise – sing the same melodious tune—sans the usual discordant notes—for the development of the locality, investments will not only rain, they will pour.
And that’s what surely comes under a good business climate.
Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.
