Failure to launch: industrialisation in metal-rich Philippines

This paper is an inquiry into the failure of the Philippines to utilise its rich endowment of metallic minerals in pursuing industrialisation tracing it to the absence of a clear and coherent industrial vision and programme, policy inconsistencies, weak political will and poor government–private sector cooperation using illustrations from a four-decade-old steel integration project that failed to take off. Moreover, the post-war growth of the mining industry developed not on the basis of the long-term industrial requirements of the country but around the raw material requirements of an emergent Japan. Even the sintering and smelting projects came about on the initiative of Japan based on the latter's narrow development agenda for the host country. The paper, however, argues that present-day globalisation realities dictate that the Philippines and other similarly situated developing countries should focus on activities with the highest potentials for value addition, job creation and sustained development in their industrialisation efforts. For this, strategic industrial visioning and an activist State capable of translating the vision into concrete doables and follow-ups are still in order, which require investment in innovation, and good labour and human resources management practices.