Ask oligarchs to invest in manufacturing

This is in connection with the article of Cielito F. Habito on “Trailing our neighbors,” (No Free Lunch, 10/3/23) wherein he pointed out, among others, that our country continues to get the least foreign direct investments (FDIs) among our Asean peers and followed by another article, enumerating the reasons on “Why investments elude us,” (10/10/23).

The question is why do we have to depend on FDI? We can adapt steps taken by the South Korean government in the 1960s to compel the “chaebols” (big business conglomerates), as described in the book “Korea: The Impossible Country” by Daniel Tudor in 2012, to help fast-track South Korea’s industrialization by exhorting them to go into the manufacture of cars, electronic goods, household appliances, and office equipment, among others. This catapulted South Korea to where it is now as one of the world’s largest economy and donor to developing nations.

Why can’t our political leaders seek the assistance of dollar multibillionaire oligarchs in this country to invest in the job-creating manufacturing industry, especially those that bring in new technologies, instead of concentrating only on real estate, retail, media, and banking services?

Antonio de Guzman, reform48@protonmail.com