Prosperous Taiwan
Media
Part of Panorama
- Title
- Prosperous Taiwan
- Creator
- Ilustre, E. D.
- Language
- English
- Source
- Panorama Volume XVII (No. 5) May 1966
- Year
- 1966
- Rights
-
- Abstract
- The views of an economics columnist of the most-widely read newspaper in the Philippines
- Fulltext
- ■ The views of an economics columnist of the mostwidely read newspaper in the Philippines. PROSPEROUS TAIWAN In a brief span of time, Taiwan, our neighbor in the north, has accomplished so much toward industrializa tion as to increase its per ca pita income to a level second only to Japan in the whole Far East. Almost every week there is a ground-breaking ceremony for a new indus trial plant. Occupying an area almost one third of Lu zon, Taiwan is now produ cing manufactured as well as agricultural products in amounts greater than the whole Philippines. How it could accomplish so much with its scanty resources has amazed many economic ob servers. Fathoming Taiwan’s suc cess may not prove as diffi cult as it appears. It is easily concievable that the secret for that success may be found in its internal stability and in the dedication of its people. It is also conceivable that there are many periphe ral factors that contribute to the creation of a wholesome business atmosphere. Among these are a hard currency, strict maintenance of peace and order, wise economic planning, sympathetic atti tude of the government, a corps of competent labor force, relatively honest public officials, and an open door to foreign investments. Placed beside Taiwan, the Philippines pales in signifi cance. That we are being outshone is perhaps largely our fault. We Filipinos don’t know what we exactly want. Having scanty funds with which to finance multi-mil lion dollar projects that would exploit and develop our natural and human re sources, we insist on placing all sorts of hurdles on the entry of these foreign invest ments on the fear that their migration to the islands might only impair our sove reignty but also displace our entrepreneurs and thereby make our people as just “mere water carriers.” In fact the attitude toward foreign investments has be come so envenomed as to May 1966 7 cause some of us to have un necessary trepidations, forget ting perhaps that the “gun boat” diplomacy of yore is no longer possible in a mo dern world. Mexico and In donesia nationalized their oil industries without endan gering their respective poli tical sovereignties. And Egypt seized all foreign holdings without earning armed repri sals for the governments of foreign investors. In today’s world, investors place their bets at their own risks. Be cause it is so, investors have lately become very discrimi nating; they only invest their funds abroad when expecta tions of profits are great. So what happens? Having no funds of our own, and because we placed all hur dles on the entry of those that have funds with which to harness and develop our re sources, we are placed in a position where we could not even put up an industrial plant to meet our own na tional requirements, let alone export to earn foreign ex change. But the harm in that policy is far more insidious than what appears on the surface. With an exploding population that we have, our young people will soon be come a social risk unless they are given employment. — By E. D. Ilustre in Manila Times, Apr. 29, 1966. PRODIGALITY Prodigality is the devil’s steward and pursebearer, ministering to all sorts of vice; and it is hard, if not impossible, for a prodigal person to be guilty of no other vice but prodigality. For men generally are prodigal because they are first intemperate, luxu rious, or ambitious. And these, we know, are vices too costly to be kept and maintained at an easy rate; they must have large pensions, and be fed with both hands, though the man that feeds them starves for his pains. — South. 6 PANORAMA
- pages
- 7+