Philippines - Oxford Business Group (OBG), the highly acclaimed global publishing, research and consultancy firm, has launched its first annual authoritative guide on the Filipino economy. The report for 2008 rated the country as the premier guide for foreign direct investment into the country's vibrant economy.

The government over the past few years has made efforts to position the country as the e-services hub of Asia. As such, the Philippines is one of the most aggressive country players in targeting the outsourcing market in the U.S., Europe and neighboring countries. The country as the e-services hub of Asia still focus on building up an IT-enabled economy. The country is an excellent option for those who want to hire an online marketer, programmer, web developer or link builder. Asian countries like India and Philippines are now providing excellent services to online businesses all over the world. It is only a matter of time before other Asian nations become reliable onlime marketing service providers.

Why major companies choose the Philippines?

When it comes to the availability of knowledge-based jobs and workers worlwide, RP is ranked first. According to a survey conducted by the U.S. based Meta Group, the labor quality in the country is ranked 4th among Asian nations.  The country is the 3rd largest English-speaking country in the world so Filipino workers have high level of proficiency in English.

The country offers state-of-the-art telecommunications facilities, adequate and uninterrupted power supply. The liberalization of the Philippine telecommunications infrastructures paved the way for affordable cost of internet access and similar facilities. The country has a capacity of 10 million phone lines where 3.5 million of such is in use. To add, the country was dubbed as the SMS messaging capital of the world whose volume of messages remains one of the highest in the world.

There are ready-to-ocupy offices and production facilities, computer security and building monitoring systems, as well as complete office services in specialized IT zones. Wages are typically less than a fifth of that in the U.S. Local communications, electricity and housing cost are also 50% lower compared to the U.S. rates. Foreign companies that are now outsourcing programming and business processes to the Philippines estimate 30%-40% business cost savings, 15%-30% call center services and application systems and 35% to 50% software development.

Located right in the heart of Asia, whose economic growth is among the fastest today. It is a critical entry point to over 500 million people in the ASEAN market and a gateway of international shipping and air lanes suited for European and American busineses. The economy has opened up and now allows 100% foreign ownership in almost all sectors of the economy. Its capital markets have become strong and the banking, insurance and telecommunications sectors have also been deregulated. This means that almost all the monopoly structures in the Philippine market economy have been removed.

RP is a location of choice for back office operations or shared services. There are now more than 8000 global companies outsourcing their ICT or ICT-enabled businesses in the Philippines. America Online (AOL) established its technical and billing support at the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga. Likewise, companies like Citibank and caltex,which have shared-service centers in the country handling finance and accounting transactions of their respective groups in Asia, have established international call centers in the country's business districts and ICT zones. It also includes Barnes and Nobel, Flour daniel, Bechtel, Sealand and Convergys.

RP is the second among Asian countries in terms of having the largest number of training facilities for computer programming and computer-related courses. By working closely with the private sector to develop IT training centers all over the country, the government expects to meet the high demand for IT professionals especially in the developed countries. The country produces 380,000 college graduates a year. Around 70,000 thousandare in the informations and communications technology field and around 105,000 in IT-enabled accounting and finance field. The educational institutions in the country are striving to remain updated with the latest technology in order to produce competent workforce.

E-service is the Philippines' market niche because of its high potential for growth and contribution to employment. In the Philippines, e-service are classified into two types: ICT professional and technical services (requires technical knowledge and skills) and ICT-enabled services (requires skills on the application of the information technology but which is not technology heavy). Qualified enterprises in the country's numerous SEZ and Industrial Estates  can avail of attractive incentive packages. The government is nurturing SEZ to become balanced agricultural, industrial, commercial and recreational hubs of activity.

I believe, this country must increase so that poverty will decrease. Investment must increase for the nation's quest for rapid growth and development in the land. But the preliminary task to welcome those investors and gain their confidence lies in our socio-political system. Cutting the red tape and corruption elimination were the constant battle cry of the investment sectors local and abroad. It was there and then, that this country and the people will gain greater momentum towards the greatness of the Orient Pearl.

For sure, the government is up to its continuing goals to build greater physical infrastructure to ensure wider, faster and reliable access at low-cost to information and other ICT resouces. Even the policy and  legal environment to promote ICT development. These move will certainly improve our modern business environment. The government should even tap the social services more such as health insurance and school nutrition programs and boost educational support by investing better school buildings - text books, teaching materials, training for teachers and administrators for the development of the country's human potential to enable Filipinos to compete in the digital age.

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