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These only tells us that much must be improved in the Philippines' agricultural
sector. Besides, before modernization and technology dominated world economy,
agriculture was the only thing Philippines had in the first place. Even Philippines
developed an International Rice Institute which actually yielded higher productivity
and variety on rice. This leads us back to the times wherein our natives had dry and
wet rice agriculture for a living whose surplus paved the way for trade with
neighboring lands in Southeast Asia. Now, let's fastforward to the 17th and 18th
centuries wherein feudalism became widespread, thus, having agriculture still as a
means to earn for a living especially for the masses.
Here are some more receent data from (SITE) on Philippine exports and
imports of agricultural products. According to
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Philippines-
AGRICULTURE.html, The Philippines exports its agricultural products around
the world, including the United States, Japan, Europe, and ASEAN countries
(members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Major export
products are coconut oil and other coconut products, fruits and vegetables,
bananas, and prawns. Other exports include the Cavendish banana,
Cayenne pineapple, tuna, seaweed, and carrageenan. The value of coconut-
product exports amounted to US$989 million in 1995 but declined to
US$569 million by 2000. Imported agricultural products include unmilled
wheat and meslin, oilcake and other soybean residues, malt and malt flour,
urea, flour, meals and pellets of fish, soybeans and whey. We can see that
there had been a decine in traditional exports. During 1988 nontraditional
exports comprised 75 percent of the total value of goods shipped abroad.
http://countrystudies.us/philippines/55.htm
In terms of FDI, it did not really contributed for the technological development
of the Philippines for foreign multinationals actually implemented "simple production
processes with little scope for technological diffusion for the firms.(PDF FILE)" From
the beginning, Philippines is an agricultural country. But Philippines kept on catching
with the industrialization trend, leading to the detriment of the Filipinos especially the
farmers. For until now, the land reform programs such as CARP never gave the
Filipino farmers what they deserve. This led to a lot of civil protests which actually
affected the business of investing here in the Philippines. Another reason why
Philippines wasn't able to benefit from FDI was because it created an unstable
atmosphere for investors. Political instability caused by several coup attempts,
inefficient Philippine bureaucracy and existing social inequalities hampered the
economic growth of the country.
But if we're gonna look at the current situation of the Philippines in terms of
FDI, I would like to use the special case of Japan and Philippines and reiterate some of
statements in the previous academic paper. Last March 2010, Japan being the top
ODA donor to the Philippines, pledged Php 13.5 billion financial assistance and
technology transfer to Philippines in terms of policy reforms, climate change and
health. Several projects under the "Hatoyama Initiative" such as the Project for
Introduction of Clean Energy by Solar Electricity Generation System will serve as aid
projects by Japan. Through all of these, Philippines actually benefited from Japan's
technological superiority through FDIs.
SOURCES:
Bjorvatn, Kjetil, Kind, Hans Jarle & Nordas, Hildegunn Kyvik. (2001). The role of FDI in
economic development. Bergen.
Canlas, Dante, & Fujisaki, Shigeaki. (Ed.). (2001). The phlippine economy:
alternatives for the 21st centry. Diliman, Quezon City: University of the Philippines
Press.
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Philippines-
AGRICULTURE.html#ixzz1FQbSVcmk
Sison, Jose Ma., & De Lima, Julieta. (1998). Philippine economy and politics.
Philippines: Aklat ng Bayan, Inc.
That's why we can say that history and economy can never be studied separately, for
one change in economy shapes history and vice versa. Now, let's trace back the
economic conditions back after the Spanish era.
The country began exporting traditional agricultural and mineral products, reducing
tariffs in aim of industrialization. But government's effort to liberalize the economy
met a lot of resistance from technocrats. Despite such resistance,
Historically, the Philippines have been an important centre for commerce for
centuries for its ethnic minority, namely, the Chinese who were also its first
occupants. The archipelago has also been visited by Arabs and Indians for the
purpose of trading in the first and early second millennium.