ICT industry to recognize top companies

MANILA, Philippines - The best companies in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry in the country will be recognized next year as the committee for the 10th International ICT Awards starts seeking nominations.

The Canadian Chamber and Commerce of the Philippines (CanCham) and the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) will honor anew the key role the ICT industry plays in contributing to the growth of the Philippines.

“This industry has been providing a lot of employment, revenue and we are very optimistic in the growth of the industry and a venue like this that provides formal recognition to the companies is very important,” IBPAP president Jomari Mercado said.

The ICT industry remains one of the leading drivers in the robust growth of the Philippine economy and is seen to provide over 1.2 million direct employment by end-2015 and generate approximately $21 billion in revenues.

CanCham president Julian Payne noted ICT’s indirect economic benefits to other sectors as it provides three million indirect jobs while the real estate industry in the last 10 years increased to over two million sqm due to office space demand of the BPOs (business process outsourcing).

“This is one of the fastest industry that Globe has put a lot of investment in, particularly in the infrastructure that it demands for and we have seen a rapid growth in manpower demand as well,” Globe Telecom Inc. Enterprise Group vice president Dion Asencio added.

There are around 1,200 BPO companies registered and the industry continues to enter new wave cities such as Dumaguete, Laoag and Baguio, among others as traffic scenarios in Metro Manila continue to worsen.