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By Mary Kathleen Loyola
Rain pours. Streets flood. Excited children
armed with paper boats hover on the water’s edge, eager to set
their creations free. And as the tiny paper folds bob along with the
current, there is, in their creators, that swell of emotion that
best goes without label: A feeling of triumph, of accomplishment, of
purpose and fulfillment.
And so in our young lives do we get a taste of
the joy we get, from having dreams and making them happen—from
laboring over our metaphorical paper boats, investing time and
effort, and finally seeing them sail. For as they say, we will all
always have that inner child, and while we may not have actual paper
to fold or currents to brave, we will always, always have our paper
boats.
Just because we have our fledgling hopes,
however, doesn’t mean we will instantly have the means to fulfill
them. Having boats is one thing, but having the waterways for them
is another issue altogether.
We are all in the middle of a time of change,
innovation, and constant improvement. Globalization, development,
the flat world: All of these open up more paths for our ambitions
and our dreams, for our paper boats—but as we attempt to join the
current we find that there is more to it than simply “taking the
plunge.”
The Philippines is not quite ready to ride the
crest of the flat world wave, as shown by a 2004 report prepared by
the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad): Of
the estimated share of Internet users in 2001, developing countries
in Asia were shown to represent only 20.2 percent of the whole, as
opposed to the 69.6 percent representing users from developed
countries worldwide.
From the same report, we see that 2002 presents
no difference: Less than 500 people out of every 10,000 have access
to the Internet in developing countries, whereas developed countries
have around 3,400 per 10,000. Even if we compare results from the
developing countries and the world as whole, there is a stark
difference: there are 1,000 out of 10,000 Internet users in the
world in general—still more than twice the developing countries’
results.
The digital divide between developing and
developed countries is seen clearer in terms of e-commerce. From the
same report we see, from an e-commerce forecast, that developed
countries take a lion’s share of 93.3 percent of 2006’s total
e-commerce. This is further divided into 58.2 percent for North
America, 19.2 percent for Europe, and 16 percent for Asia and
Oceania.
This is depressing if we consider the values for
the developing countries: 6 percent. Most of this goes to developing
countries in Asia and Oceania, but 5.1 percent is not nearly enough
to fuel bids in the races of the flat world.
If we can’t be competitive in the flat world,
how can we hope to be a major player in globalization?
Let’s take direct foreign investments, for
example. From the same Unctad report, we see that developing
countries in Southeast Asia received $35,913, 000 in direct foreign
investments. Developed countries in North America and Europe
received $59,625, 000 and $384,391, 000 respectively. We see more
investors directing their attention to developed countries.
The Unctad’s list of the top 50 transnational
corporations worldwide can also be very telling. Familiar names and
companies can be found on the list, and it comes as no surprise that
all these corporations have their bases in developed countries (with
those from the Triad—Europe, America, and Japan—prominent).
If we take the assets of the top transnational
corporation from this list, and compare it with the assets (foreign,
and total) of the top transnational company from the developing
countries list, the difference is also significant. From the first
list we have a UK company, Vodafone, with foreign assets amounting
to $187,792, 000 and total assets pegged at $207,458, 000. From the
second, we have a Hong Kong company, Hutchinson Whampoa Ltd., with
foreign assets totaling $40,989, 000 and total assets at
$55,281,000.
While more transnational companies from
developing countries are indeed breaking into the Top 100 list, 2001
results as seen in this report show that developing countries have a
lot of catching up to do if they hope to be part of the forefront.
If we take into account international trade, we
still see the same trend: developed countries with a substantial
lead.
Merchandise exports in 2002, for example, show
that developing Asia has hold of 24.2 percent while developed
countries control 63.5 percent of the total. While this is an
improvement for developing countries when compared to 1960
values—11.4 percent and 64.7 percent respectively—developed
countries are, as aforementioned, still in possession of a
substantial portion of the whole.
What will fuel attempts to ride the
globalization-and-the-flat-world wave?
Development. Yet before proper development plans
for the Philippines can be laid out, obstacles and hindrances have
to be defined—and in the Philippines’ case, there’s a lot to
do, if we base this on the UN Development Program’s Common Country
Assessment (CCA).
At the heart of the problem lies poverty.
Defined in the CCA not only as “being poor” but also “being
vulnerable,” poverty is one of the biggest obstacles to
development the country faces today.
In its attempt to identify the key
actions that need to be done to root out the poverty problem, the
CCA has related it to “three broad themes”—the economy,
political uncertainty and friction in society, and “failure to
iron out many of the imbalances and inequities that prevent key
agents of change…from playing more active roles” in improving
lives.
The economy is fragile, according to the CCA,
and key factors such as inadequate infrastructure contribute to the
idea that greener pastures can be found outside the country. As seen
in the study, the Philippines’ investments are pegged at 20
percent of the GDP as opposed to 30 to 35 percent for “other newly
industrialized countries.”
The population, too, is a factor—and the
country is not excelling in this aspect either, with global growth
rate reaching little more than half of the country’s 2.36 percent.
The slow rate at which we adopt advanced
technology and facilities is a problem too. While the rest of the
industrialized world leaps ahead, we are often left, struggling,
behind.
It is these factors that ultimately contribute
to our paper boats being indefinitely grounded.
Dreams, hopes, and ambitions are all very
meaningful to the people who cultivate them. They are given the
utmost care, and are not entrusted to mediums or means that would
ultimately dissolve them.
So while people find almost no restrictions to
their ability to dream, the state of the country today gives the
impression that these dreams, once conceived and allowed to set
sail, will be nothing more than slowly dissolving paper if left
afloat in the different waterways accessible to them.
Floundering development, disadvantaged on the
globalization front, not quite a part of the flat world as we would
like—one would think that the state of the country is a potent
formula for leaving dreams stagnant.
Yet there is always a chance. As was once
discussed in one of our intersection conferences last year, what the
country needs now are dreamers who are willing to act upon their
dreams—however disadvantaged they may seem to be. Having difficult
channels before us does not give us excuses to back down and give
up.
There are already countless plans that aim to
help the country, like the United Nations’ Medium Term Development
Plan. There are already concrete propositions, which aim for goals
like energy independence. If we can only be smart enough to choose
the right moves, and determined enough to actually make those moves,
cliché as it may sound, it would make a difference.
Of course, chances of the country being First
World so easily are almost nil. But then that’s not exactly what
we should be aiming for.
Rather, we should first set our sights on
building a country that isn’t weighed down by anchors, a society
that isn’t afraid of change, people who are not afraid to let go
of their paper boat dreams and see them set sail.
What we should hope to build is a place where
letting go of our precious paper boats isn’t something to dread,
but something to look forward to. After all, we will always, always
have our paper boats.
What we really need right now, however, are the
right currents for them.
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