Issues & Relevance of International Business Trade in the Palawan and In the

Philippines.
A Position Paper

The Philippines is at the heart of Asia’s fastest-growing region and is thus a critical point
of entry into the ASEAN market and a gateway to international shipping for European and
Western countries. That is why there is no doubt that international businesses have been
popping up throughout the Philippines over the years and the numbers are still growing.
Moreover, the role of the regional bloc that the Philippines as a member country is vital to this
occurrence. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is one of the regional blocs the
Philippines is a member country and it contributed to the improvement of international business
and trade in the Philippines throughout the years.

With the rise of international businesses here in the Philippines especially in Palawan
and Cebu, there are a lot of opportunities as well as challenges that go with it. One opportunity
that we could take advantage of is that Filipinos are eager to try new things, and it is expected
that at first a lot of Filipinos would try whatever services or goods it is. And maintaining
customers is a challenge since it’s new.

One opportunity that we could take advantage of is the opportunity to adapt to the new
system of business and trading that’s been going on internationally and be updated on the new
technologies that have been rising internationally in the global market. In this way, not only do
we benefit from the knowledge but also helps in developing our country’s economy. On the
downside, even though it may seem that these international businesses could help our economy
to develop because it is expected that a lot of people would patronize them, our local
businesses might suffer from this. And in economics, it is said that it should be balanced. For
instance when a community patronizes more foreign brands and international businesses and
somewhat ignores the local businesses, not only will it affect the development of the community
but also might lead to unemployment.

One great example of international business here in the Philippines is the Potato Corner.
Potato Corner was founded by Ramon Magsaysay with his cousin, it just started with the cart
business and when they gained more income they decided to make more franchises locally. And
eventually, when they saw the potential internationally they decided to open their first
international branch in Indonesia. This particular history of Potato Corner could be linked to one
of the international business and trade theories, Product Life Cycle Theory, wherein, they
started their own business, introduced a new product to the people, started to make more
branches when they have enough capital and eventually took it to the international market
because there’s an indication that their business can compete with the other international
businesses in the market and the same industry.

It is easy to identify that this business belongs to the APEC regional bloc because some
member countries of the APEC, potato corner have branches in that country. Moreover,
particular privileges that the Potato Corner could have if it is in the APEC Regional bloc is that it
is easier to do business because APEC launched its Ease of Doing Business Action Plan in
2009, intending to make it cheaper, easier, and faster to do business in the region as well as it is
easier to connect with other regions among the APEC Community. After all, there is free and
 Issues & Relevance of International Business Trade in the Palawan and In the
Philippines.
A Position Paper
open trade and investment where trade barriers are reduced in the region, and the free flow of
goods, services, and capital among APEC economies is promoted.

To conclude, international business and trade give a lot of benefits to the country,
especially in the Philippines. With the rise of international businesses in the Philippines, the
people and the government just need to balance and control everything.