Ending Global Poverty

If you’ll find time again, here’s a video I came across of Mr. Yanus speaking at MIT last September 2005. The video is entitled Ending Global Poverty.

An instance of a Grameen Bank in the Philippines

Here’s an interview with Fr. Sean Connaughton on his work in the Philippines in setting up a Grameen Bank. It tells some of the experiences and the ways how they implemented it with the people.

Although I do not know yet of the details on how the Grameen Bank or its microcredit program strategize to help support the starting little successes of these small entrepreneurial endeavors of the borrowers, I believe the key here is helping them discover their potentials and providing them education that could help gradually widen their perspective.

For me and for now, I would like to see us Filipinos start learning simple creative products the Japanese have produced and continue to produce.

‘bank had never lent money to an illiterate woman’

Normal logic would tell us that business should be profitable. Banks, for its business safety, check borrowers for its capacity to repay loans and as much as possible to have a collateral or guarantor.

Grameen Bank, Bangladesh defies this common sense and puts its faith in the ability and heart of the country’s poorest of the poor. A bank which goes out of its way to find needy people and help them stand up by letting them borrow small capitals.

Here is the story of the bank and that of Mohammad Yunus who come to realize that large problems are composite of a great number of simple problems and as such can be solved by simple people.

This is the lesson, the model, and the concurrent endeavor worthy of our real attention as people of our own nations and people for our world.

Bring Your Company Home

Filipinos are global. Thanks to the state of our country, the seemingly endless difficulties. Filipinos exists in every corner of this world. Filipinos abroad strived, and a many succeeded.

Now, to those who have made it well in companies abroad, what about introducing the country to your company as a possible location to establish, say a subsidiary, where some of your company’s operation can be done.

You can also contact schools and local organizations to mention your skill needs or expected of a graduate. You can also advice schools to make them more focused too to the possible demands.

Maybe it’s time we start think of ways where we can transform into cycle the movements of Filipinos abroad rather than just a one-way direction. Just imagine how the Indians moved to the US before and then how they were able to bring home afterwards the companies they are working with.

Helping the Country Not Through Job Creation

Eversince, what I always here from my Philippine Government and business leaders in the country is the push to attract foreign investments into the country. Special tax-reduction programs, BOT, special trade zones, and the like.

I didn’t mean this is not good, it is in fact necessary for every nation per se.

Yet, I have thought, why I haven’t heard a lot of a push in the lines of “helping the nation through creation of real quality products.”

You know what, back centruies ago, nation like Japan sent missions of people in Europe to learn how to construct better roads, better medicine, better industrial processes – you know, things they could learn and build upon in there home country.

Before I really find it funny how the Japanese are so so meticulous, not stopping to think of how to improve things, even small small things, like innovations in cooking, in simple home cooking, in small kitchenwares, in small bathroom utilities, in program shows in TV that not only offer to entertain but also a touch of educational trivias.

Do you believe there is a way to create quality products at a cheaper cost and consequently at acheaper price for the people? If we want this, we need to think, to be creative, and to try. Let us learn even little things wherever we may find them, take note of them, and think of how we can adopt it to the Philippines. Think of how we can emulate it, improve it.

Imagine, if we have companies in the Philippines that offer quality product at a cheaper price or affordable and fair price for the people, we help the country. Importantly, we can help our fellow Filipinos.

One more thing, maybe this is worth another thorough reflection, but allow me to just state it here now, “business enterprises – goal is not profit alone but helping the people who uses the product through quality and fair price.“

Filipina on ITVJapan

I have been watching ITVJapan online interview broadcasts before to hear some views on business topics in Japan by some industry personalities both foreigner and Japanese.

And today I got excited to find out about Antonina Binsol, a Filipina guest on the Asian Connection segment. She is said to be an Assitant Manager at Mizuho Securities now. She was a Monbusho Scholar before and finished a PhD at Keio University.

It’s great to know the NPO organizations she is trying to help organize and facilitate together with some other OFWs from different countries.

Eh? “Thank God, I’m a Filipino!”

“Thank God, I’m a Filipino!” by Maoi Arroyo, I guess not related to GMA.

I will be working in India

Oh, not me for that matter. “India attracts Western tech talent“ reports about companies like Infosys Technologies starting to train new graduates from leading US universities for work in their company in India.

Related to this turning of events, do you remember the Thomasites teachers sent by the US to teach Filipinos and establish educational system? Sure the opposite is taking place now. When do you think will that time come where Filipino professionals abroad return to their country like the newly graduate Chinese in US universities to China?

For the present, there may be a good way where Filipinos abroad could make a difference to the Filipinos not only through remittances. What do you think would that be? I hope I know the answer.

Starting point to India’s IT Industry

Many countries can learn from India’s I.T. Industry, and that includes of course the Philippines.  National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) of India is a good starting point to know success stories, startup companies, human resource development, government policy and a lot more resources.

Philippine IT, Education, Biotech & Startup Organizations

If you have a project, research, business plan or would just like to connect in I.T., education, biotechnology or other fields and is seeking people for assistance and advice in the Philippines, here are some of the active organizations that you can contact.

Brain Gain Nework (BGN), Philippine Emerging Startups Open (PESO-MIT), Philippine Open Source Initiative Information Portal (Positive), Cebu Education Foundation for I.T. (CEDFIT), Hybridigm Consulting (Biotech), Laptop for kids (Frederick Kintanar).