Nadal, Sharapova coming to Manila? Invite bosses of Samsung, Facebook, Alibaba, too

I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end. —Abraham Lincoln

How do we sustain the now fast-growing Philippine economy beyond our usual vibrant pace and aim to become one of Asia’s best? We should make a concerted effort through schools, NGOs, government, churches, the private sector and media to educate ourselves to get rid of the attitude of “OK na iyan (That’s good enough).”

With our abundance of natural and artistic talents, that age-old bad habit can only get us to a certain level of success, but not to the globally competitive and world-class excellence we are capable of. Let us strengthen discipline and promote a culture of excellence!

Nadal, Federer, Djokovic & Sharapova at Arena?

On June 20, the SM Mall of Asia Arena successfully launched its A-List Club Members Lounge with showbiz celebrities Rhian Ramos, Sam Milby and others cutting the ribbon with Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares.

In our casual chat, Henares shared her past experiences as an accountant and lawyer for top accounting firm SGV Group and the Romulo Mabanta law firm, and her earnest efforts to increase tax collections.  She also discussed the BIR’s project to encourage the public to demand official receipts, which can be used as raffle coupons with us consumers texting the receipt numbers to be eligible to win prizes.

I realized the main reason the busy Henares graced the launch of A-List Club was due to her niece Stephanie Henares being the social and public relations manager of MOA Arena. A former talent of GMA-7, Steph invited lots of her celebrity friends.

Top executives of MOA Arena declined to confirm news I heard that they hope to or are already arranging to bring the world’s top tennis athletes Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova for special matches that would put the Philippines on the world map of tennis and possibly draw more high-end tourists. 

What MOA marketing and sponsorship head Nicole Mariz C. Deato was willing to confirm was that Rihanna is coming for a concert and the National Basketball Association (NBA) event on Oct. 10 has already attracted international inquiries from as far as Australia.

Woo business trailblazers to visit

Instead of just drawing foreign politicos, international pop stars and Hollywood celebrities to visit the Philippines for concerts and endorsement deals, I suggest that our private sector and the government go out of their way to invite world-class business trailblazers to visit here so they can make huge long-term and job-creating investments in our economy. We need more foreign direct investments (FDIs).

I suggest that we invite such business leaders as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (who last week had a high-profile trip to South Korea), Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Samsung Group boss Lee Kun-hee, whose Korean conglomerate has total assets of US$384.3 billion, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma, Baidu Group founder Robin Li, Larry Page of Google, HTC Group chairman Cher Wang, world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturing foundry TSMC Group chairman Morris Chang, Changi Airport Group CEO Lee Seow Hiang (a brilliant leader who was former principal private secretary to Singapore statesman Lee Kuan Yew), Four Seasons Hotel chain founder and chairman Isadore Sharp, Banyan Tree resort chain executive chairman Ho Kwon Ping (whose group managing director is Filipino executive and University of the East graduate Ariel P. Vera),  and others.

In recent months, our neighbor South Korea has managed to attract three high-profile tech billionaires to visit: Facebook founder Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Google boss Larry Page.

Etiquette error & success for Gates & Zuckerberg in South Korea

Koreans criticized Bill Gates over social media for his seemingly informal and impolite attire, as well as his using only one hand to shake the hand of South Korean President Park Geun-hye while keeping his left hand inside his pocket.  In contrast, the normally informally attired Mark Zuckerberg wore a suit and tie to meet South Korea’s lady president and was shown making a slight bow as a sign of respect.

What lessons can businessmen and professionals learn from the Gates and Zuckerberg trips to South Korea? It is important to research a bit and be culturally sensitive to the foreign societies we are visiting, whether as tourists and most especially as business people or professionals.

One of the important rules of social etiquette in East Asia is for professionals and businesspeople to always bring business cards to meetings and, if possible, give others our calling cards with both hands as a sign of courtesy.

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I recently met Hi-Top Supermarket boss Joey Go at the airport, and he shared one of his business strategies to make his supermarkets popular with consumers: “Maintain affordable prices by being cost-efficient, ensure good quality and being resourceful in sourcing products.”

Low-key retailer Go is president of the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCCI), an organization made up of new mainlander immigrant traders known for their self-made business successes.

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DOT, DOH, DTI: Unlock billion-dollar potential of medical tourism

Paging the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI): When can we launch a multi-sectoral, long-term, strategic and comprehensive effort to develop the multi-billion-dollar potential of Philippine medical tourism?

Even without government help, there seems to be a trend for outstanding medical professionals to become entrepreneurial with the likes of Dr. Vicki Belo, GAOC and Metro Dental clinics CEO Dr. Mark Steve Gan, Dr. Smile Clinic Podium mall CEO Dr. Joseph Dy Lim and others transforming their operations into efficient world-class businesses, serving more patients — both local as well as tourists.

One of the newest medical practitioners to elevate his practice to a business-like concern is Harvard Medical School graduate Dr. Harvey Uy, who has established the Pacific Eye & Laser Institute on Jupiter Street, in Makati City. I heard that this center used to be occupied by a high-end spa. Dr. Uy suggests that for Philippine medical practitioners to be world-class, we need to encourage more research to be at par with our neighbors like Singapore or Hong Kong.

Ophthalmologist Dr. Harvey Uy said that there are half a million people in the Philippines who suffer from blindness, thus affecting their income and productivity as professionals, workers and businesspeople. What is sad, he stressed, is that a lot of blindness cases are “preventable or curable.” He urges people to go to any eye doctor or ophthalmologist at least once a year for regular checkup, for prevention and cure of any eye ailments. 

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