rhk111's Blog

The Board of Investment of Thailand recently approved a total of $2 billion worth of Investments into their Country in various Business Fields like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Electronics, Aviation, Clean Energy and Food.

The largest of these Investments was by the Thailand Subsidiary of the Swiss Company “Nestle” which will build a Smart Factory and Distribution Center in the Samut Prakan Province worth $688 million. The Factory will use AI and advanced Automation which will position it as the main Production and Logistics Hub for the entire South East Asian (SEA) Region.

The Factory is set to start operations in 2028 and create more than 520 jobs. The Japanese Company "Datasection" will also invest $235 million in Computer Server Infrastructure in Thai Cities of Bangkok and Pathum Thani.

The South Korean Company "Doosan" and the Taiwanese Companies "Taiwan Union Technology" and "Fulltech Fiber Glass" will be investing $180 million, $189 million and $99 million respectively to manufacture Materials for Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) that are used in Computers.

The United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced that they are now seeking to dismantle the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to its Threat to US Sovereignty since it is claiming it has the Authority to prosecute and imprison US Citizens.

Rubio says that Visas will be revoked and Travel Bans imposed on ICC Personnel, and Allies will be asked to join in their Fight. Of Note will be Rubio's insistence that Countries who are relying on the US for their Security need to reject the ICC's Authority on US Citizens, or else they will face "increased Scrutiny".

Here exactly is the official Statement about that from the US Department of State: "Nations that partner with American Law Enforcement and the U.S. Military or that enjoy the Benefits of the U.S. Security Umbrella are called upon to reject the ICC’s purported Authority to prosecute American Officials and Servicemen. Increased scrutiny of Nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false Authority while relying on U.S. Assistance".

The Vietnamese Government recently started construction $456 million worth of Roads that will lead to their largest Airport called "Long Thanh" which will start operations within this Year of 2026. The Roads will connect the Airport to Highways, Expressways, Industrial Parks and Seaport.

The brand new and very modern Mega Airport is located in the City of Dong Nai which is 40 km east of the Vietnam's Capital City of Ho Chi Minh, and will initially be able to handle up to 25 million Passengers per Year in its first Phase.

The total Length of new or upgraded Roads is around 111 km. "Provincial Road 769" connects the Airport to two Highways, the National Highways 1 and 51. It will have six Lanes and is worth $106 million.

Another new Road called "Provincial Road 770B" will be 43 km long and worth $179 million. It will have six Lanes, and will connect the Airport to two Industrial Parks, one Expressway and one Seaport.

A third existing Road called "Provincial Road 773" is 39 km long and will be widened from six to eight Lanes at the cost of $164 million, and will connect the Airport to Ho Chi Minh City.

Based on the Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to the Philippines dropped to only $250 million in April 2026, the lowest Point in ten Years or since 2016.

Also for the first four Months of this Year of 2026, the Total FDIs went down to only $1.97 billion, which is around 26.5% lower than for the same Period last Year of 2025 which was at $2.68 billion.

The BSP said that the FDIs this Year so far were mainly from Japan, the United States (US) and Singapore and were mainly channeled to Manufacturing, Finance and Insurance, and Real Estate.

FDIs are important because they are typically made to Productive Assets such as Factories, Equipment and Business Expansion which creates Jobs, and provides Technology Transfer and Growth.

Here is a good Article about how and why the Philippines is already lagging behind Vietnam, and here are the Key Points on why it is so:

In 2024, the difference in Gross National Income (GNI) per Capita between Vietnam and the Philippines was only $20 with Vietnam ahead, but just a Year later in 2025 Vietnam has now increased its Lead to $120. "GNI per Capita" means the Total Income earned by all of a Country's Residents divided by its Population.

Vietnam's success is because they focused on providing Exports and getting Foreign Investments. The Philippines on the other Hand just focused on exporting Labor and depended on Domestic Consumption, which clearly now shows as the weaker Strategy, especially now.

Vietnam took only around two Decades to enter the Lower Middle Income (LMI) Category and "graduate" to Upper Middle Income (UMI) Status while the Philippines took around twice as long or around four Decades to do the same.

Below is the GNI per Capita of most of the Countries in South East Asia (SEA): 1) Singapore - $81,760 2) Malaysia - $12,380 3) Thailand - $7,690 4) Indonesia - $5,120 5) Vietnam - $4,970 6) Philippines - $4,850

The Philippines last Year of 2025 was again left behind the Investment Boom that has been sweeping most of the other Countries in South Easth Asia (SEA) according to the 2026 World Investment Report that was released recently by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The Philippines only received around Usd 9 billion worth of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in 2025 which is almost 17 times lower than that of Singapore which received Usd 151 billion worth of FDIs last Year.

Indonesia ($21.44 billion), Vietnam ($20.35 billion) and Thailand ($19.1 billion) had more than twice more FDIs than the Philippines while Malaysia at $ 15.4 billion had more than 1 1/2 times more. This shows that Foreign Investors actively chose to invest more in other SEA Countries than in the Philippines.

Just a Reminder of how far ahead most of our South East Asian (SEA) Neighbors are ahead of us, especially when it comes to Self Reliance in Defense after Indonesia successfully tested their locally-made RD-702 70 mm caliber Wrap Around Fin Aerial Rocket (WAFAR) Practice Rocket.

The Rocket is made by the Indonesian Company "PT Dirgantara" and is mostly used by Aircraft. Our own Air Force extensively uses such Rockets also on our Helicopters and Fixed-Wing Aircraft. Even if this Version is currently just a “Practice Rocket”, it is still a big Step for Indonesia, and will pave the Way for the deadly, armed Versions later on.

No Timeline yet was mentioned on when Indonesia intends to mass produce these Rockets, but the Test Firing is Part of the Development and Certification Process for the eventual use of them by their Armed Forces.

Since both the Philippine and United States (US) Government refuse to commemorate Events like these in our History, then it is up to us Citizens to help everybody remember in our own Way.

Today Marks the Start of the “Battle of Bud Bagsak”, or also known as the “Bud Bagsak Massacre” in 1913 or 113 Years ago. This was a Battle held in Mount Bagsak in Jolo, Sulu between the US Forces led by General John Pershing with a force of around 1,200 Soldiers versus the Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu led by Datu Amil numbering around 1,000 Moros.

The Battle ended four Days later with the Filipino Moros defeated and suffering at least 300 and up to 500 dead while the American Soldiers only suffered around 15. This Battle effectively marked the End of the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines against the Americans.

TikTok recently announced that they have already invested around Usd 5 billion in Vietnam in the last seven Years, or since 2019. This means an average of around Usd 714 million per Year in Terms of Investments.

They said that Vietnamese average around 100 million hours watching Videos on the Platform daily, and that there are now six million Vietnamese Content Creators in the Platform.

In Terms of the TikTok Shop, there are now half a million Sellers and another half a million Advertisers there, and up to three billion Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) Orders are being processed in Vietnam per Year.

Because of that, the Shop is now the second biggest E-Commerce Platform there with a Market Share of 41%, just behind Shopee which is Number One with a 46% Market Share.

As a Result of these, TikTok is now planning to officially open up a local Company in Vietnam which will improve Data Management, simplify Procedures of Data Submission and improve collaboration with Local Authorities.

"Oxford Economics", an Independent Economic Advisory Company that is based in the United Kingdom (UK), recently said that Philippines has the highest Fiscal Deficit in the entire South East Asia (SEA) which is equivalent to 5.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

As a Result, it also has the strongest Pressure to lower its Spending to either stop the Deficit from worsening, or even lower the Deficit if the reduction in spending is enough. But this of course will affect the funding of the Government's various Projects.

A "Fiscal Deficit" happens when the Government is spending more than it is earning, and thus one Way of solving this is to borrow Money more from Lenders so it will be able to spend for its Programs. This is one main Reasons why this Government is getting a lot of Loans now from various Institutions.

The Philippine Government is not earning enough in Part because its Economy or GDP has not been growing at what it is targeting, which is between five to six percent, but the latest Data for the first Quarter of 2026 showed that the GDP grew by only 2.8%.

The Japanese Investment and Brokerage Company "Nomura Holdings Incorporated", one of the biggest Financial Companies in the World, recently lowered their forecast of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Growth rate of the Philippines this Year of 2026 from their previous five percent to now only 4.6 percent.

This is way below the Target of the Philippine Government of five to six percent. Nomura says that one Factor for their Downgrade is they expect the Inflation Rate to higher at 6.1% for this Year, much higher than the no more than 4% Target of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Nomura also said that the Philippines' heavy reliance on imported Oil makes it very vulnerable to Crisis in the Oil Supply from the Middle East like the ongoing War in Iran by the United States (US).

As I have posted about a couple of Weeks ago, the Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) predicted that the Philippines' GDP will only grow by 3.6%, even lower than Nomura's Prediction.

The South Korean Company "Samsung Electronics", one of the biggest and most famous Technology Companies in the World announced recently that they have submitted a Proposal to the Vietnamese Government to put up a brand new and modern Semiconductor Testing Facility there which will be worth Usd 1.5 billion.

The Facility will located around 60 km North of the City of Hanoi, and will focus on testing Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and Not-And (NAND) Memory chips. The Plant is targeted to start Commercial Operations in November 2027.

Samsung is already the biggest Foreign Investor Company in Vietnam, with a total Investment Value of Usd 23 billion providing 90,000 Jobs to the Vietnamese People. Samsung is producing mostly Smartphones and Consumer Electronics in Vietnam, and this new Investment will strengthen further their Presence in the Semiconductor Business there.

The United States (US) Company "Amazon.com, Incorporated", one of the biggest and most recognizable Companies in the World, recently announced that it intends to invest Usd 33 billion by 2039 in four major Countries in South East Asia (SEA), but the Philippines is not one of them.

The four SEA Countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, and Amazon will be investing in Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Infrastructure into those Countries. The Company estimates that these Investments will contribute around Usd 64 billion into the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provide 56,300 Full Time Jobs into those four Countries.

Amazon also said that they are not only building Infrastructure there, but also training Local Workforces and enabling Local Businesses with those Investments.

The Global Investment Research Division of the Hongkong-Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) recently said that the lower than expected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Growth of only only 2.8% of the Philippines in the first three Months or first Quarter of this Year of 2026 is a Sign that "Stagflation" is beginning to happen to the Philippine Economy.

"Stagflation" means that the Economic Growth is slowing down while the Inflation and Unemployment rates simultaneously goes up. The latest Data for the Inflation Rate is at 7.2%, the highest in three Years. The Unemployment Rate on the other Hand rose to above 5%.

HSBC warns that Things could even get worst if the ongoing Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues as it will affect Fertilizer Supply which in turn will affect our Agricultural Output. Another Issue is the ongoing El Nino Weather Phenomenon which will affect our Agriculture even more.

As a Result of these, HSBC has lowered its GDP Growth Forecast for the Philippines in 2026 even further down to only 3.4% from their previous Forecast of 4.6%. If this happens, then it will be lowest Growth since the Corona Virus Disease-19 (Covid-19) Pandemic in 2020 when the Economy went down by -9.5%.

If the Pandemic Data is excluded, then this will be the lowest GDP Growth rate since 2009, when the Economy grew by just 1.4%. The current Projection of the Marcos Jr. Administration is the GDP will grow by 5 to 6% in 2026 which is now very far from the HSBC estimate.

The Australian Company "AirTrunk" will invest an additional Usd 3 billion in Malaysia to build two more Data Centers there. They had previously invested Usd 3.8 billion to build their first two Data Centers in the City of Johor Bahru.

Once completed, AirTrunk will have a total of four Data Centers worth Usd 6.8 billion in Malaysia. The two new Data Centers will reportedly use 100% Recycled Water to minimize their Impact on the Environment.

Data Centers are specialized Facilities that house Computing Infrastructure to store, process and manage large Volumes of Digital Data and Information Technology (IT) Services.

Not being reported again by the shameless, overly corrupt and biased Philippine Press is the Fact that Vietnam has just officially released a Statement urging the Philippines to respect their Sovereignty over Hoai An Reef.

The Reef is known internationally as the "Sandy Cay" Reef and is called as the "Pag-Asa Cay 2" Reef by the Philippines.

No less than the Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Vietnam, Pham Thu Hang, said that, "The Fact that the relevant Parties allowed People to go to the Features of the Spratly Islands without Vietnam's Permission is an act of violating Vietnam's Sovereignty under International Law, contrary to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) as well as the efforts of Countries in negotiating the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (COC) currently underway".

The Philippine Press is among the Sections of Philippine Society which only tries to endlessly antagonize China, but is submissive and willing to appease other Countries it has Territorial Disputes with like Vietnam.

Kaya pala hirap na hirap maski ang Philippine Marines natin sa Senado bago lang kasi hindi pala ordinaryong Drayber ng National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) ang nakalaban nila, ito ay walang iba kung hindi “Ang Tagapaghatid” pala … No wonder … LOL.