Ranting away...: Ortigas trip

Ranting away...

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Ortigas trip

I had a great time yesterday when we went on an exposure trip to the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Asian Development Bank at Ortigas. At the PSE, we were accommodated by a UPSE alumna. As expected, she knew what she was talking about. I've gotta give it to her, she knows her stuff about financial markets. She was very articulate, and answered all our questions sufficiently. The trading floor was a bit disappointing. Apparently, the larger one was in Makati. There were few brokers there, about 45 all in all. And it was a bit boring watching them. We even caught a few of them playing solitaire on their computers and trimming their nails. Well that's finance for you, for the most part it's really boring.

But the highlight of the trip was at the ADB. The ADB headquarters is a wonderful place teeming with people from different countries all over the world. Being there is like being in in a museum abroad or a five-star hotel. The architecture is not only beautiful, it's also green, i.e. environment friendly and energy efficient. Both natural and artificial lighting complemented each other so well. And the furnishings and decor, mostly art pieces from all parts of Asia... along with the corridors that opened out to picturesque courtyards and gardens... Wow! I'd love to work there... Unfortunately, they need at least a master's degree and work experience, and you have to be "among the world's best" because you're competing with aspirants from all over the world. But anyway...

We met another UPSE alumnus who dropped in at our briefing with the PR Officer. I enjoyed listening to the exchange of questions and answers, and I really learned a lot more about the bank. For instance, they've got some pretty lofty goals out there, like their vision of "... a Philippines free from poverty" and the like. But we were enlightened as to how the bank actually hammers out deals and works with governments and other concerned sectors. Maybe ADB isn't so irrelevant after all, contrary to criticisms from some quarters.

They also toured us at their library, and how I wish UP's facilities were like that! It wasn't too large, maybe because a part of the library had already been devoted to multi-media resources and they were going for a "paperless office." And the good news is that it's open to the public. On thursdays at least, and you have to e-mail them 2 days in advance and bring a letter of recommendation from the college library. Too bad their database, along with the econometric data sets and stats, is not accessible for external visitors and is only for their employees. And I thought my life was going to be so much easier with access to ADB's databases. Sayang...
And when you get there, security's pretty tight, much like at an in international airport, with the x-rays, scanners, and complete with webcams that they use to take your picture and make customized IDs for visitors. Too bad we weren't allowed to bring our IDs home; it would have made a great souvenir.

But the best part was the freebies at the Public Information Office. As soon as the guide told us that the publications and CDs in this and that particular were all free, it was everyone for himself grabbing all those booklets, studies, technical notes, pamphlets and CDS - all absolutely free! Since most of us were juniors and are going to do our theses next year, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity of getting all those valuable resources at out fingertips. It looked as if we had just gone shopping, with the ADB printed "shopping bags" and all.

I was exhausted by the time I got back to UP. And I still had yet to study for an exam! But that's another story...

Labels: rantings

posted by remrick @ 3:35 PM

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