- Philippines -
Good
Advice
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Dear visitors of our home page, This so-called 'Good Advice' is not addressed to multinational conglomerates or big companies, that have enough financial resources, expertise and power, but towards small companies, interest groups, individual business men and investors, that are considering the idea to invest in the Philippines. May we state the following: The Philippines clearly belong in to the category of 'developing countries'. Historically seen they were discovered by the Spanish sea fairer Magellan in 1521. Henceforth they were predominantly ruled by the Spanish for nearly 350 years. Eventually they were "liberated" by the Americans and finally got their independence. Economically seen, the Philippines are of no importance on a worldwide scale and play a secondary role on the Asian Market. Concerning any investment ideas, we may clearly state and sincerely recommend: Before you leap to such a step, get thorough advice from institutions such as your local embassy in Manila, European Chamber of Commerce in Manila, other international or German business organizations and associations, or even through your local bank branch, county or federal bank, that all issue quarterly or annually confidential economic reports about countries like the Philippines. Observations over the last ten (10) years have unfortunately shown, that there are too many painful experiences, where small and medium size investors crashed, went bankrupt or even lost everything they ever possessed, because of the fact that this country is everything but certainly not 'investor-friendly'!! Unfortunately that starts already with the jurisdiction and local laws, that extend as much as no protection to the foreign investor. Foreigners may not purchase any land in this country. While establishing a local corporation, which is some sort of similar to the European 'Co. Ltd.', only up to a maximum of 40% of all company shares can be obtained by foreigners, etc, etc..! In reference to the local banking system, it has more similarity with the unclassical American Wild West times, than anything that has to do with an organized, regular money transferring system. Official interest rates of local banks for borrowing money can even exceed 30% per year! Already a reason to violate the German laws against interest profiteering! Any "hand shake" in a local bank costs already a fictitious charge! Unfortunately we also have to mention, since it is usually found in almost all developing countires, the entire local society is infiltrated by corruption and the top of the iceberg can be found not only in authority and governement circles, but also in the President's Palace!!! As a matter of humor one has to mention that most corruption here is even unproductive, since you don't get what you might have paid for! In terms of tourism, this country deserves on a scale that reaches from +5 to -5, a mere -5 (-5--)!! Indeed there are dream-like beaches, hotels and tourist destinations, yet the complete infra-structure is unfortunately missing to ensure that tourists are safely, reliably, punctual and comfortably brought to their final destinations! Anybody that wants to compare this tourist destination with countries like Thailand, Malaysia and even Indonesia (Bali) committs the biggest mistake in his/her life, but will also suffer from the worst nightmare of his/her life!!! Oh by the way, this is for those among us, naive life artists and unmarried men, that look for the ""dream wife"" (""a life long"") here in the Philippines, one might add; "..did you know that there is no such thing as 'divorce' in this country for locally executed marriages???" Consequently, may we express our 'Good Advice', "...take a second, third and fourth look and check very thoroughly, before you start any kind of local adventure, you might never recover from it!!! The Editor's Office P.J.B. Chief Editor in Charge |
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