The information and communications technology (ICT) sector is one of the leading drivers of the Philippine economy and is actively supported and encouraged by the Philippines Govenrment. The ICT sector has been growing steadily for every year since 2000 and in 2011 had revenues around $11 Billion. The Philippines has surpassed India as the top business process outsourcing destination in the world particularly in voice based BPO. Some of the major Indian BPO companies are now offshoring to the Philippines.

Market overview

The ICT industry in the Philippines is dominated by Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). Practically all segments within the BPO market Contact centres are covered in the Philippines,including:

• Back office operations including:
  • accounting & bookkeeping
  • payroll processing
  • financial analysis
  • auditing
  • inventory control
  • purchasing
  • credit card administration
  • business data processing
  • supply chain management
  • engineering
  • architectural design
  • database activities
• Transcription services (medical & legal)
• Animation and gaming services
• Software development

Key opportunities

The ICT/BPO sector generated annual revenues of US$11 billion in 2011 and has been growing by an average of 30% for the last 10 years. The Philippines has now surpassed India in terms of contact centre operations and is now recognised as a prime destination for IT-enabled back-office operations for multinationals.

The country has world-class telecoms infrastructure for IT operations, including:

• Telecom facilities
• 26 IT Parks
• 73 IT centres

About 70% of all office buildings constructed in Metro Manila from 2000-2009 are BPO-ready. But the real asset of the Philippines IT-BPO industry is the availability of cost-effective, highly-skilled and service-oriented manpower to sustain this dynamic performance. The industry now employs more than 650,000 employees. The country churns out 450,000 college graduates per year and has a literacy rate of 92.6%. Another distinct advantage is that the Philippines is one of the top English-speaking countries in the world, a genuine edge in delivering IT-BPO services.

Because of the rapid growth in the IT-BPO industry, there is increased demand for computer hardware and improved telecommunications to provide broadband to the various IT buildings.

There is also significant demand for mobile technology and devices. Mobile penetration is at 96%. The Philippines is called the “texting capital of the world” as there are more than 1 billion text messages sent everyday in the country. This opens an opportunity for mobile solutions and applications. Mobile internet usage is growing significantly, offering a lucrative market for smart phones and applications. There are 33.6 million internet users, 27.6 million of which has presence in online social networking. The Philippines ranks 8th in the world & 2nd largest in ASEAN in terms of social networking.

Other business opportunities in the ICT industry are in the areas of:

• Software development – enterprise software/work management; SaaS
• Broadband technology and solutions;
• Mobile applications;
• Networking systems/solutions
• VoIP; IT Security
• E-learning materials, e.g. software & computer hardware for schools
• E-health and telemedicine/assisted living devices, e.g. remote monitoring devices, bedside computers; digital diagnostic devices.
• Intelligent buildings and smart technologies for building management and security
• Smart grids for the energy sector
• Transportation and traffic monitoring and control devices

The PBBC has helped a number of UK based IT product companies find distributors in the Philippines for their products. For further information how we cna help please contact Alistair Fulton.

For flights, hotels and tourist spots in the Philippines information, please see relevant pages