What’s Driving The Philippines

In a recent panel discussion on business opportunities in the Philippines entitled “Bottomline 2008,” which included Philippine Finance Secretary Margarito Teves as well as representatives of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the International Monetary Fund, three industries were identified as high growth engines that will drive the country forward:

1. Business Process Outsourcing
2. Ecotourism
3. Mining

These three industries will play a major role in what the Philippines will look like in the future so any trend analysis on the country should pay close attention to the directions that these industries are taking. We’ve discussed in the past how business process outsourcing is already influencing city lifestyle behavior and Manila’s real estate landscape.

Philippine ecotourism is expected to have a similar impact for residents living outside the metropolis as it is seen as a great source of opportunity for small businesses and marginalized indigenous communities. When done properly, ecotourism (despite all its environmental contradictions), will finally enable more Filipinos to participate in the global economy by bringing the global community to their doorstep. It also creates a very real incentive to preserve the natural environment and keep any planned modernization as sustainable as possible. The New 7 Wonders of the World campaign is creating a lot of interest for ecotourism and the Philippine government has recently rejoiced that four of the top 10 destinations with the most votes are Philippines-bound. Perhaps success in the industry might also lead to more green thinking nationwide.

While ecotourism is being projected as the great new hope for the local underdog entrepreneur, mining is of course where big business is interested in playing in. Due to years of bureaucracy and violent tension with the separatist (and resource rich) Mindanao region that has kept foreign investment out, there’s still actually a lot of value underneath the country to dig for. This creates a very real dilemma though because ecotourism and mining obviously tend to conflict with each other. Who will the government side with if there’s gold underneath a certified natural wonder? So far, it looks as if the country is going for the gold.