Protectionist tendencies hobble investment despite globalization

We Filipinos pride in our cultural hospitality, but we also like our economy closed; and protectionist tendencies still run below our surface show of welcome for most everyone and everything exotic. In an East Asia that achieved a veritable miracle of growth through export promotion, we have plodded along, during these last six decades, on the opposing strategy of import-substituting industrialization (ISI).

Import substitution is a common strategy for industrializing less-developed economies. At its best, it grows home markets—nurtures infant industries—and educates workpeople in the disciplines of industrialism.