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On
Chinese tourists and mining lustre My column just recently about breaking into the China market as a source of income for our bereft tourism industry evoked some comments. One that we picked up is extremely helpful; the other is plain concerned. Read on. Our letter sender, apparently of Chinese descent and currently living abroad, has some suggestions on improving the Tourism department’s plans to capture even a slice of the lucrative Chinese outbound market. Here is what George W. Lee wrote: "Thank you for your article on Chinese tourists. We should try to bring all the tourists that we can to help improve our economy. "I just want to add that if the tourism office wants to have a website in Chinese to target the mainland tourists, it should be in the simplified form of the Chinese characters which is used in that country. Other Chinese countries are still using the traditional characters that are more complicated. "We should also open an office in Guangzhou in the province of Guangdong. Many of the Cantonese (Guangdong was formerly known as Canton) have become wealthy when a lot of factories were opened in that province, and particularly in Shenzhen across the border from Hong Kong. "Filipinos should learn to speak Mandarin or any foreign language for that matter. In the meantime, the local Chinese population should be tapped as tourist guides, cashiers for malls, hotel front desk clerks, etc." Resolve Security Issue First "But the greatest problem we have to solve is the security issue. What we can do is create secured tourism enclaves, like what we did in Ermita before. If we can guarantee the protection of tourists in Boracay, Baguio, Clark, Subic, Bauang, and Cebu, we’ll see them coming to the country. "Also, set up courts that will speedily resolve crimes against tourists. These are some of the ways that we can help bring in those tourists and for them to refer others to come in the future. Thanks for all of the interesting articles that all of you at Philippine STAR are contributing. For us who are living abroad, this is a very important link to our beloved country." Tapping the Chinese tourist market is one of the baby projects of WOW Dick Gordon when he was at the Department of Tourism (DOT). I am sure the observations made by George Lee are well known to WOW Dick. The question now is whether Sen. Dick Gordon will pursue his tourism goals or will the intrigues and politics in the august hall of the Senate distract and ultimately devour his energy? Another reader, Ed Lim, from down south has this to comment: "Are you sure the Chinese won’t overstay if they come to the Philippines? Even here in Zamboanga City, there are already lots of new Chinese faces, those that have managed to get away from the constant raids in Divisoria and Valenzuela. It seems Immigration is busy in Manila." Mining Issue On TV "Isyung Kalakalan at Iba Pa" on IBC News (5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Monday to Friday) starts today with a discussion of issues that beset our mining industry. After the Supreme Court (SC) declared null and void several key provisions of the 1995 Philippine Mining Act, many big mining projects with giant foreign mining companies had been put on hold. Now, more than four months after the decision was handed down, things look more certain that it’s back to square one for the local mining industry. Some $4.5 billion in new investments is deemed lost as these prospective investors are channeling their investments to other countries’ mining projects. Having been put on tenterhooks for more than eight years waiting for the high court’s decision, they had plenty of time to mull alternative actions should the questioned provisions of the new Philippine mining act be invalidated. The biggest loss to the country, though, is the opportunity to cash in on approximately $2.5 billion a year on mineral exports at this time when the government badly needs funds to pay off debts and to finance the budgetary spending on bloated bureaucracy. Is Mining Beyond Redemption? It is now back to the drawing board for the environment and natural resources department as it tries to think of new ways to attract the much needed capitalization and state-of-the-art technologies that would allow mineral extraction attuned to today’s environmental and societal standards. I hope it will not take another eight years (the same amount of time it took for government to propose, discuss and pass the 1995 mining act) to come up with an amended and acceptable version of the controversial law. If that happens, it’s going to be a triple otso already for the industry, including the eight years that the SC took to decide on the case. On allegations about environmental neglect, local mining companies now are paying for the sins and arrogance of the past. And clearly, they have lost the battle with environmentalists and obstructionists in gaining public support. Mining companies must now be more forthright and transparent as they respond to issues about environment abuse. Government, on the other hand, must elevate existing advanced mineral development projects to flagship status and make them showcases of modern best practice mining. Jointly, there is scope for the government and the private sector to join hands. And as suggested by one of our readers, Philippine business needs to champion the mining industry by organizing a think-tank team that would finds ways and means to put together the required investment, even if just for one big mining project. Is the Supreme Court decision the death knell of the mining industry? Or, can the industry still climb out of the pits? Watch it. ‘Breaking Barriers’ With Eduardo T. Malinis, Insurance Commissioner "Breaking Barriers" on IBC (11 p.m. every Wednesday) will feature Eduardo T. Malinis, officer-in-charge of the Insurance Commission, as guest on Wednesday, 16th June 2004. After more than a decade of liberalization, the public wants to be clarified on issues affecting the regulation of the local insurance industry. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner has been quick to assure those with misgivings about the safety of their investment in insurance policies that the domestic insurance industry continues to be strictly regulated. The same assurance, though, is not extended to pre-need plans. Our lawmakers have not acted on the proposed Pre-need Code of the Philippines that will govern the operations of pre-need firms. Apart from transferring supervision of pre-need companies from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Insurance Commission, the pending bill will require a registration scheme of all sold pre-need plans to ensure that pre-need firms are fit to engage in the business. The proposed bill also requires the imposition of standards on advertising materials and other communications to the public to stop false claims to promote sales. Since the proposed measure aims to extend greater protection to plan holders and strengthen control over pre-need company operations, one wonders why lawmakers are dragging their feet. Is the lobby of the pre-need companies that strong? Watch it.
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