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As this is being written, President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo is in Singapore (June 23 to 26) attending the World
Economic Forum where she is one of the keynote speakers, making a
state visit in that island state, and meeting with business and
financial leaders from the region.
At the WEF, President Arroyo
tells the world of the Philippine success story. Inflation and
interest rates are at an all-time low, the stock market index is at
an all-time high, investments are at an all-time high and the May 14
midterm elections have produced a balance of political power—an
opposition-dominated Senate and an administration-dominated House of
Representatives and LGUs, or local government units.
A few months ago, Texas
Instruments pledged to invest $1 billion in a microchip plant inside
Clark and Tokyo Electric and Marubeni bought out Mirant of the US,
for its two major power plants, Pagbilao and Sual. The two Japanese
power companies have formed TeaM Energy (for Tokyo Electric and
Marubeni) to own the local power plants. They, in effect, invested
more than $4 billion in the Philippines—$3.424 billion plus about
$500 million to expand the Pagbilao plant. It is an investment in
the growth and future of the Philippines.
“These big investments signify
that the Philippines is back and open for business. Our democracy is
a proven fact; our economic growth is a work in progress. On both
counts, the Filipino has shown the ability to stay the course by
working hard and believing in the country’s future,” President
Arroyo enthused.
In Singapore, one of the first
things Mrs. Arroyo did was meet with Carlos Ghosn, the legendary CEO
of Nissan Japan and Renault France. What they discussed could
benefit many small businesses in the Philippines.
Nissan has for its local partner,
Universal Motors Corp. (UMC), a pioneer in the local auto industry.
UMC has been around for more than 52 years. It is the only
100-percent Filipino-owned auto assembler and distributor in the
country. Its partnership with Nissan has lasted over 30 years.
UMC-Nissan is aggressively
promoting the culture of entrepreneurship and the growth of small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the “Ur Van, Ur Business”
(UV-UB) program where buyers are encouraged to use the Nissan URVAN
as a self-liquidating, mobile business venture to help supplement
their current income.
The UV-UB Program is the first of
its kind in the Philippines. It has turned upside down the concept
of vehicle marketing in the country. Before, a car company would
stop after selling the vehicle to the consumer.
Under the revolutionary UV-UB,
UMC goes three steps further—first, by offering easy payment
terms; second, teaching buyers the elements of entrepreneurship via
a roving school; and third, by helping ensure the success of SME
business, along the principle of “don’t give a man a fish,
rather teach him how to fish.”
The UV-UB is the brainchild of
Elizabeth H. Lee, the US-educated UMC EVP and head of marketing. The
project enabled the Nissan Urvan to beat the Toyota HiAce, making
the van market the only segment not yet captured by Toyota.
According to Lee, the UMC-Nissan
program has created a positive bandwagon effect receiving 10,000
inquiries by text messaging, calls and personal visits and
triggering copycat campaigns from rival auto companies.
The program, she says, has
resulted in greater consciousness about entrepreneurship and the
huge potential for livelihood with SMEs.
For every Urvan van sold, UMC
donates P1,000 to a charitable foundation’s microfinance arm,
giving seed money to the poor, underprivileged microentrepreneur. At
the same time, the UV-UB program has created more than 1,200 jobs
and helped over 800 poor families so far since its launch in March
2006.
With its continued success,
Nissan Japan is studying plans to expand the UV-UB in the
Philippines and replicated it in other countries where Nissan has a
presence.
A Filipino idea, the UV-UB, has
become global.
At same time, Lee heads Campi
(Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers in the Philippines, Inc.),
which has plans to expanding the auto market with a low-cost locally
made all-purpose vehicles for public transport, for SMEs, and for
the masses.
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