My impression after participating in this Philippine Investment Environment Survey mission sponsored by JETRO is as follows.
1) Security issues
Almost all of the companies operating there in the Philippines we had visited answered that there was no security problem, and they continued as follows. Until now, the content of the incidents reported by the media did not accurately report the causes, and they said that unnecessary incidents could be prevented by taking responsible and correct actions by the advancers themselves. What they want to say is that the real cause of the incident lies with the companies operating overseas themselves, and the cause was that they looked down on the local people and treated them improperly. Overseas, the companies are minor, and it is necessary to have a humble attitude that they are allowed to work there.
2) Labor force
There are abundant excellent scientific workers who can speak English, and the labor cost is about one tenth that of Japan (as of 2001). Therefore, it seems that the labor work content is mainly hard, dirty and dangerous at present, but the content will be transformed into the one including research and development within a few years. (This will be the same in China.) Their handling and use of computers is far superior to those of Japanese, and the dexterity and work zeal of young women are also greater than those of Japanese. It is important to have a pride as a Japanese, but it is a false sense of superiority to think that the Japanese are always superior to the people in Asian countries. It is due to lack of humility.
3) Language barrier
To cope with this, the idea of ‘Do as Romans do in Rome.’ is indispensable. However, it seems that some Japanese business owners have a sense of the colonial policy era and they try to teach Japanese language to the local people. Language problems can be solved when the Japanese acquire English proficiency and the Japanese work using the English that most of the local people speak. Basically, a small number of Japanese should learn the language of the majority of locals.
4) Job hopping problem
This is a management issue for Japanese managers. There is an outflow of employees at Japanese companies with poor management. The cause lies with the employer rather than the worker. Japanese managers have passed on this issue to local employees. This is not humble.
5) Investment incentives
Considering the fact that there are not many withdrawal companies (survey by Manila Japanese Chamber of Commerce), it should be judged that the local incentives or preferential treatment is not inferior to other countries. It is an overkill to complain that there are few investment incentives.
The above described is my impression. The background of my participating in this JETRO-sponsored Philippine Investment Environment Survey mission is as follows.
After I received the information on the dispatch of the Philippine Investment Environment Survey mission sponsored by JETRO via an email, I forwarded the email to my acquaintances centered in Onomichi, where I live. In response to this, the number of companies and the number of participants finally became 3 companies and 4 people (K company in Onomichi, T company in Okayama prefecture, and my own KEC). Participating companies from this limited region accounted for nearly 10% of all participating companies in this mission, which was a bright sign for the future and global sense. As shown by President Arroyo and former President Ramos attending the two receptions, I think all the participants felt that the Philippines wanted to welcome Japanese companies eagerly. I would like to continue the business support work between Japan and the Philippines as much as possible from now on as well.
Please refer to the following site for the pictures and/or references.
