Tourism, investments and migration policies
As of end-2006, the number of foreign tourists who visited the Philippines, per Dept. of Tourism (DOT) data, are the following:
1. S. Koreans, 572,133 (20.1 % of total)
2. Americans, 567.355 (20.0 %)
3. Japanese, 421,808 (14.8 %)
4. Chinese, 133,585 (4.7 %)
5. Taiwanese, 114,955 (4.0 %)
It was the first time that Americans, including Filipino-Americans, were dislodged from the #1 spot of visitors to the country. This year, no doubt the Koreans will retain the #1 spot, and the coming years.
Aside from proximity (Seoul-Manila for instance is less than 4 hours only by plane, vs. 12-16 hours from the US, depending on the city or state one is coming from), Koreans find it cheaper to learn English here than hire language tutors in Korea, or go to Australia or UK or US/Canada. Of course the tropical climate of the country is another attraction to the Koreans, Japanese, other people from the temperate countries.
On learning and practicing English speaking, the law of free trade is at work here. The Korean government makes it difficult for thousands of foreign English tutors to go to Korea and work there, making the supply of English tutors and speakers very small, that makes their price high. So thousands of Koreans opted to leave their country, at least temporarily, and move to the Philippines to learn English, among others. For many young Koreans, the Philippines is only a "stepping stone" since their ultimate target is to study or work or migrate to the US, UK, Canada, other English-speaking industrialized countries.
If the Korean government finds it rather discomforting that many of its citizens are leaving their country even temporarily, go to the Philippines, spend their savings there, then it only has itself to blame.
Conversely, if the Philippine government finds it discomforting (although I doubt the country's top political leaders and bureaucrats would feel this way) that many Filipinos are leaving the country to seek high-paying work abroad, it only has itself to blame. Entrepreneurs here, both Filipinos and foreigners, are penalized with so many business regulations, taxes and fees, that many of them abdicated the plan. They opted to remain employees, instead of becoming employers and job-creators, thereby helping squeeze the employment environment.
1. S. Koreans, 572,133 (20.1 % of total)
2. Americans, 567.355 (20.0 %)
3. Japanese, 421,808 (14.8 %)
4. Chinese, 133,585 (4.7 %)
5. Taiwanese, 114,955 (4.0 %)
It was the first time that Americans, including Filipino-Americans, were dislodged from the #1 spot of visitors to the country. This year, no doubt the Koreans will retain the #1 spot, and the coming years.
Aside from proximity (Seoul-Manila for instance is less than 4 hours only by plane, vs. 12-16 hours from the US, depending on the city or state one is coming from), Koreans find it cheaper to learn English here than hire language tutors in Korea, or go to Australia or UK or US/Canada. Of course the tropical climate of the country is another attraction to the Koreans, Japanese, other people from the temperate countries.
On learning and practicing English speaking, the law of free trade is at work here. The Korean government makes it difficult for thousands of foreign English tutors to go to Korea and work there, making the supply of English tutors and speakers very small, that makes their price high. So thousands of Koreans opted to leave their country, at least temporarily, and move to the Philippines to learn English, among others. For many young Koreans, the Philippines is only a "stepping stone" since their ultimate target is to study or work or migrate to the US, UK, Canada, other English-speaking industrialized countries.
If the Korean government finds it rather discomforting that many of its citizens are leaving their country even temporarily, go to the Philippines, spend their savings there, then it only has itself to blame.
Conversely, if the Philippine government finds it discomforting (although I doubt the country's top political leaders and bureaucrats would feel this way) that many Filipinos are leaving the country to seek high-paying work abroad, it only has itself to blame. Entrepreneurs here, both Filipinos and foreigners, are penalized with so many business regulations, taxes and fees, that many of them abdicated the plan. They opted to remain employees, instead of becoming employers and job-creators, thereby helping squeeze the employment environment.
posted by Bienvenido Oplas Jr | 2:01 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home