Philippine emerging and submerging industries
In contrast with Travel and Tourism, the “Entertainment” part of “Fun” can recover more quickly once the pandemic is licked either through a discovery of a cure or a vaccine. One can already observe in the cities where the virus has been brought under control as in China, Taiwan, and South Korea, that restaurants, shopping malls, theaters, museums, amusement parks, sports stadia and other venues where public events are held are already opening up.
As long as the health authorities give the go-signal allowing for people to congregate in public events, as night follows day I am sure that fun-loving Filipinos will not hesitate to once again celebrate weddings, baptisms, birthday parties, sports events, concerts, and other public ways of having fun. I can say the same thing about religious events like pilgrimages, Masses, novenas, and other ways of manifesting their faith. No matter how we talk about a “new normal” prevailing after this nightmare, Filipinos will always revert to the “old normal” of congregating to show their love for God, for one another and for life. It is not for nothing that we rank very high, not in Gross Domestic Product, but in Gross National Happiness.
As the Philippine economy graduates from a low middle-income economy (average annual per capita income of $1,000 to $3,000) to a high middle-income one ($4,000 to $10,000), consumer demand will increasingly shift from the basic goods of food, shelter, clothing, and leisure to the other F’s of consumption goods and services, which are Fitness, Facebook, and Formation. Predictably, the largest increase in consumer expenditures (whether privately or publicly financed) in the next two years until COVID-19 is effectively under control will be in health services, especially on the curative side such as hospitalization expenses, pharmaceuticals, medical fees, etc. To get an idea of the types of products that will be in great demand for as long as the pandemic has not been completely eradicated, let me quote from the report of Dr. Henry Echeverri, chair of the UP Medical Alumni Society America on the very impressive response of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to the COVID19 challenge as described in a webinar by PGH Director Dr. Gap Legaspi. Let me quote from the report:
“Our own fight within the PGH is something to be proud of. With the expertise and hard work of our internists, pulmonologists, and ICU personnel, a 50% de-escalation of severely ill is the norm. Out of the more than 160 severely ill COVID patients, 37 have now been discharged improved. Eleven beds out of 20 are occupied in the ICU because most die upon arrival or upon transfer to the bed. The rest are prevented from getting critical with aggressive treatment from our pulmonory experts using high-flow nasal cannulas, bronchial toilet, and availability of medicines from Hydroxychloroquin, LIpolivir, Tocilizumab, and others. Our Hematology Department has started using convalescent plasma for treatment.”
This brief portion of the PGH report would give us an idea of the types of products that would be in great demand for as long as the coronavirus would be rampant. Medical equipment and pharmaceutical products would be in great demand for at least the next two or even more years. We should also mention the products that belong to the preventive measures such as face masks, gloves, disinfectants, and a host of Physical Protective Equipment (PPE). In addition, there are both the synthetic and natural products that boost immunity such as ascorbic acid and a myriad of vitamin products. We can also include among the preventive measures such goods and services that improve the physical fitness of the human body, such as physical exercise machines and all types of sports equipment. All these would constitute the fitness part of the demand for consumer goods and services.
“Facebook” refers to the wide range of digital products and services that could grow almost at exponential rates as working and living in the new normal would involve the digitalization of practically all phases of daily living, both work and leisure. In a webinar sponsored by PLDT last April 23, 2020, John Gonzales, vice president for enterprise digital solutions of PLDT, described how consumer behaviour, already very much influenced by digital technology even before the pandemic, will experience an even more aggressive shift to digital engagement and channels.
I can speak for myself. As an educator and economic consultant, I experienced a quantum leap in my interest in and ability to perform digitally enabled transactions such as courses delivered on line, economic briefings through Zoom, Google Meet, or other such applications, and get-togethers with my relatives and friends through Viber or Zoom. I think that once things normalize after we lick the COVID-19 threat, I will continue to make use of these digital tools and applications because of the great saving in time in not having to travel from one destination to another, especially considering the horrendous traffic in the Metro Manila area.
(To be continued)