Despite the gloom and doom economic predictions being peddled by critics of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, investor confidence remains strong particularly if he is able to deliver on his campaign promise to reduce crime and corruption in the country.
This was the assessment made by emerging markets investment guru, Mark Mobius on the sidelines of the Asia Private Equity and Venture Capital Summit in Singapore.
“Of course, it’s a tragedy that anybody gets killed, but in the context of what’s happened in the Philippines in the past and (Duterte’s) commitment to law and order, I’m not too worried about it.”
Mobius, an emerging markets funds manager at Franklin Templeton Investments, is also the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group. Currently, he directs the Templeton research team based in 18 global emerging markets offices and manages emerging markets portfolios.
He explained that while “[Duterte’s behaviour] affects foreign relations. It affects foreign investors because they get concerned and you have the corporate governance concerns and so forth. But at the end of the day, I think the impact of the improved law and order will be positive.”
“The concern about the illicit killings is a minor issue. The big issue is how they implement true law and order and the degree to which Duterte is able to do that,” Mobius said.
Mobius also downplayed the recent fall of the Philippine Peso against the US Dollar, which some have also been trying to connect to Duterte.
According to Mobius, “the drop in the peso may have been connected to the slowdown in remittances because with the economic situation in the Middle East and in Europe, the U.S., remittances have not been as high as they were.”
Keeping with the overseas Filipino workers theme, Mobius credited OFWs with leading the transfromation of the Philippine economy, not just with their remittances, but also by infusing new technologies into the Philippines which they learned from working abroad.
“The diaspora around the world, living in the Middle East, living all over the place…is not only sending back money, they’re sending back know-how and technology,” he said.
SOURCE:
http://mindanation.com/5420/investment-guru-mark-mobius-says-crime-free-philippines-good-place-invest/
