Government urged: Be more friendly with major partners

JUN SAA (CDN FILE PHOTO).

A leader in Cebu’s information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) sector is encouraging the government to be more friendly and more collaborative with the country’s major partners to help the industry to continue to grow.

Wilfredo “Jun” Sa-a, Jr., executive director of Cebu Educational Development for Information Technology (CEDF-IT), made this call after President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncements last week “to separate” from the US and then later on clarifying that he was not cutting ties with the US.

Sa-a said he was worried that the country’s credibility might be affected by the President’s flipflopping statements.

“It will not be good for the credibility of our country if this continues to happen,” he said.

Sa-a also said that Duterte’s pronouncements of “separation from the US” might not have an immediate impact on the (IT-BPM) industry yet.

He said this is because it will take some time for IT-BPM companies to process what are the immediate, short, and long-term implications of those statements on their operations.

“My knee jerk reaction is that it may affect the expansion plans of existing locators and those who are still coming in,” said Sa-a, who was referring to Duterte’s statements last week.

Duterte, during his visit to China last week, told state and business leaders that he was going to “separate” from the US in both military and economic aspects.

According to the White House, there has been no formal communication from the Philippine government regarding changes in relations following Duterte’s announcement.

Malacañang also urged the people not to “interpret” his statements while some solons said this might have just been a hyperbole.

Later on, Duterte clarified he was not cutting ties with the United States, but pursuing a “separation of foreign policy.”

At present, Sa-a said the industry is also clarifying what the official stand of the government really is.

US market

Sa-a said the IT-BPM industry is still dominated by the American market with a share of at least 60 to 70 percent.

“So if we want to continue growing and expanding the market, it will pay if we maintain a more friendly and collaborative attitude with our major partners,” he said.

Remittances of overseas Filipino workers and revenues from the ICT-BPM sector, which amounted to $28 billion and $22 billion respectively, in 2015, continue to be the major drivers of the country’s economic growth.

Overseas workers’ remittances have been growing by three to five percent annually since 2007, making them one of the most reliable sectors contributing to the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Around 43 percent of OFW remittances come from the US and that country hosts at least six million Filipinos.

IT-BPM industry leaders, on the other hand, projected its revenues to increase to more than $25 billion by the end of 2016.

In two years, the IT-BPM sector is seen to expand with an annual growth rate of around 18 percent and will be contributing to the country’s GDP as much as OFWs are at present.

In 2015, the IT-BPM sector had about 1.2 million employees.

Voice services, which includes all call centers, made up 69 percent of the total IT-business process outsourcing industry, employing around 700,000 people.