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Investing in ourselves for a better normal
Maoi Arroyo • Feb 10, 2023
"Isn't it time that we invested in the many undervalued assets in the country, most of them outside Metro Manila? Isn't it time we Filipinos invested in ourselves?"
In an article published in The Manila Times, founder and principal Maoi Arroyo writes about how it's time for the Filipino people to invest in themselves as well as addressing what should be "a better normal" for the Philippines.
Farmers in the Philippines, in particular rice farmers, are among the poorest in the country. With the rising prices of milled rice, some might think that farmers as a class are better off, but the reality that the rice value chain sees three changes of hands, with diminishing returns at each stage for the farmers. After the transfer of rice from farmer to trader to miller to wholesaler/retailer, an ordinary rice farmer only receives 5% of a share in profits for every 25kg sack of milled rice sold.
"It's about time that Filipinos invest in the Philippines in the many deeply undervalued assets and our natural resources and our ingenuity."
