043007: Editorial: Overseas Filipino Investors

Editorial:

Overseas Filipino investors

So why not tap overseas Filipino workers (OFW) as a viable investment source?  That’s the proposal of Sen. Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks and Financial Institutions, who points out that the $12 billion to $14 billion annual remittances of OFWs through formal sources alone is much bigger than direct foreign investments, and therefore should be a rich source of funds for various entrepreneurial activities here at home. OFWs send money home to their families so they can have food on the table, send their children to school and put a roof over their heads. The highly skilled and the professionals who get considerably bigger pay than the domestic helpers or factory workers are able to save more. Thus, the national government need not look far for money to put up more SMEs especially in the countryside even as it continues to search for more foreign investments. With globalization, the Filipino diaspora is not likely to decrease, but to expand even more in the coming years. The key is educating the OFWs so they know where to invest their savings. And remittances by OFWs can be a viable investment source if they can be adequately informed about various investment choices and become financially literate. Indeed, if OFWs can be assisted in finding investment outlets for their hard-earned money, as what the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has started to do, then perhaps the economy will grow even more than it does at present. The senator’s proposal is for the POEA to include crash courses in investing money and financial literacy in predeparture briefings for OFWs, so they can make better investment choices with their earnings abroad. If government agencies can make the OFWs familiar with investment opportunities and their rates of return, then the OFWs can put their excess funds in sound investment schemes. The possibilities are endless: OFWs can go into agribusiness, or undertake contract growing for various agri-integrators. They can lease land for sugar and corn production. They can buy government bonds that offer higher yields than money deposited in savings accounts. Already, OFW money has gone into trucking and transport, small-scale garments production, food processing, and feed mill operations, apart, of course, from the ubiquitous sari-sari stores. The proposal, of course, is not new. A few NGOs already assist returning OFWs make better use of their savings. But if government agencies can team up with the private sector and civil society to properly educate OFWs on key investment opportunities as well as the risks and returns, then they can have a menu of investment options that will allow them to secure a better future for themselves and their families.     *****

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/04302007/opinion01.html