A columnist in the Philippines has written about president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “southward policy” in a positive light, urging Taiwan and the Philippines to step up mutually beneficial exchanges.
Since the Philippines is the first in line in her “southward policy,” Philippine businesspeople should waste no time in engaging potential Taiwanese partners in such sectors as agribusiness, manufacturing, banking, transport and communications, infrastructure and real estate, and tourism and logistics, Bernardo Villegas said in an article titled Taiwan Model — Part 2 published in the Manila Bulletin on Friday last week.
He said that while Taiwan has very productive technology in agriculture, it is running out of land. Taiwan might be interested in helping the Philippines increase crop productivity so that excess produce can be exported to Taiwan.
He advised Philippine agribusiness companies to travel more frequently to Taiwan to look for potential joint-venture partners in food production that could cover the whole value chain, from farming to harvest, processing, manufacturing and retail.
His article cited recent studies that suggest, through both DNA and language mapping, that the vast Austronesia region (including the Philippines) and Polynesian peoples might have originated in and began spreading out from Taiwan about 5,000 years ago.
Villegas also praised Tsai’s “southward policy” as “making a lot of sense.”
“Without suggesting a drastic decoupling from China, especially economically, the new direction being taken by the first female president of Taiwan makes a lot of sense,” he wrote.
Villegas advised Taiwanese companies wanting to tap the ASEAN market to send their young employees to work for some time in Philippine companies to hone their English-language skills and be exposed to ASEAN culture.
As Taiwanese investors more aggressively expand their presence in the ASEAN region, especially Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar, they can also depend significantly on Philippine managers in these nations, Villegas said.
“Filipino managers are very welcome all over the ASEAN region,” he said.
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