Philippine IT Outsourcing Capabilities Featured in Hong Kong Conference
17 May 2005
The Philippine Consulate
General in Hong Kong SAR, in cooperation with and the Hong Kong General
Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC), hosted a roundtable luncheon on 17 May
entitled “Business Opportunities and IT Outsourcing Capabilities of the
Philippines” to promote the Philippines as Asia’s emerging business
process outsourcing (BPO) hub.
The conference was an initiative of the Consulate, Philippine Trade and
Investment Center (PTIC) and the HKGCC as part of the Chamber’s
Asia/Africa Committee Roundtable Luncheon. HKGCC is the oldest -- founded
in 1861 -- and largest -- around
4,000 corporate members --
business organization in Hong Kong.
Two Filipino business
executives - Joseph Anthony Alejandro, Managing Director of Romulo Mabanta
Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles Law Office (Hong Kong) Ltd., and
Antony Zubiri, Managing Director and CEO of The Environments
Collaborative, shared with HKGCC members and non-members the benefits of
investing in the Philippines and the country’s advantage in BPO.
In his presentation, Mr. Alejandro outlined the benefits of doing business
in the Philippines. He explained the following: modes of entry for foreign
corporations, incentives to foreign investment, fiscal incentives,
non-fiscal incentives, incentives for regional headquarters and the
country’s special economic zones, including Subic and Clark.
Mr. Alejandro stressed that the “Philippines is committed to free
enterprise. Its liberalized business laws have opened more investment
areas to 100% foreign equity, have granted incentives to foreign investors
at par with other ASEAN countries, and have simplified investment
procedures.”
For his part, Mr. Zubiri
focused his presentation on the country’s comparative advantage as Asia’s
emerging BPO hub. He discussed the following: IT & IT-enabled services,
contact center (call centers) industry, case models of global companies
doing outsourcing business in the Philippines (SYKES, Telecare, AIG,
Caltex, HSBC, Navitaire, Headstrong, and Fluor), business processes
outsourced in the Philippines, and software development in the country. He
also disclosed that the program for the “octopus card,” Hong Kong’s
electronic payment system using contactless
smart card, was developed in the
Philippines. The
smart card offers users an easy and hassle-free way to travel, shop and
dine around Hong Kong with its built-in microchip which stores money
electronically.
Mr. Zubiri, whose company has its regional headquarters in Manila and a
strong presence in Hong Kong, stressed that the Philippines is committed
to building IT infrastructure in major cities and industrial parks in the
country and promoting world-class benchmarks and standards to strengthen
its position as an emerging BPO hub.
Global and regional firms like CB Richard Ellis Ltd., Hellmann Worldwide
Logistics Ltd., One Finanz, Alpha Capital Services, Tremis Co., Ltd.,
Nisha Electronics Industries Ltd, Marubeni Hong Kong & South China Ltd.,
Any Tours Enterprises Ltd., China Development Bank (Hong Kong), Oseach
Business Ventures, S.W.I.F.T.s.c., Axiom Oval Partnership Ltd., Marriott
Hong Kong Ltd., and Shangri-La International Hotels attended the
conference.
Some of the participants noted the potential of the Philippines as India’s
primary competitor in the outsourcing industry. They also inquired about
requirements in putting up a fully-owned business or company in the
Philippines.
Consul
General Corazon L. Belmonte-Jover said “the roundtable luncheon was a good
opportunity to present the Philippines as an excellent choice when it
comes to IT and business process outsourcing.”
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