(File photo)
MANILA – The Philippines remains to be a reliable investment destination for information technology and business process management (ITBPM) companies amid the challenging business environment brought by the pandemic and the rise of new technologies, the country’s trade chief said Friday.
“You talk about ITBPM, we still have a clear and good advantage given the quality of manpower that we have. We are still the “go-to guy” when it comes to ITBPM despite the technology,” said Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez at the 28th Metro Manila Business Conference.
Lopez said that despite the growth in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, there will still be manpower to run the machines.
“Yes there are machines that can aid BPOs, but what we have to do is get all these new technologies for greater efficiencies and lowering the cost of ITBPM service,” he added.
He noted that this means ITBPM firms should focus on upskilling their workforce as these technologies change the nature of jobs needed in the industry.
“What it means also is that you will have to upskill and level up the kind of jobs that we will have to develop to be able to service all these technologies around us,” said Lopez.
Moreover, the DTI chief bats for the approval of the CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) Bill in the Congress to attract more investments through lowering corporate income tax rates and providing fiscal incentives to investors.
Data from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority showed that from January to July 2020, registered projects from ITBPM sector grew 37 percent to PHP11.4 billion amid the global health crisis. (PNA)
