03 MARCH 2019

10 BUSINESS
Sunday, 3 March 2019
Daily Tribune
Worldwide BPO business gives Phl advantage
ISSUES AND VIEWS
Kumar Balani
COMMENTARY
“The economy
of the Philippines
— about $332
billion — was No.
40 in size in the
world among 190
countries in 2018.
NEW YORK, NY — When I call an 800-number
seeking help related to a product or service
I use, very often the person answering my
call is someone located in Manila or Cebu or
in Mumbai or Bangalore. Very seldom is the
person located in Atlanta or New Orleans.
I love that because I typically do not have to
listen to a whole slew of other numbers for more
options as is usually the case for United States-based
call centers. Also, I can converse in Pilipino or
Hindi and very often saying a simple “thank you”
and expressing appreciation in these languages
works miracles and saves me a lot of precious time.
Globalization of business, particularly with
large consumer-related companies in the US
and Europe, has given the Philippines, India
and other countries where many call centers,
also known as business process outsourcing
(BPO) facilities are located, huge competitive
advantages.
According to a recent Wikipedia article,
BPO are now one of the fastest growing
businesses worldwide and the Philippines is a
top destination because of Filipinos’ proficiency
in American-style English, including the use of
slang words.
In 2008, the Philippines surpassed India as
the world leader in BPO and the majority of
the top 10 BPO firms of the US operate in the
Philippines. In 2005, the industry generated
100,000 jobs and total revenues were placed at
$960 million for that year. By 2011, BPO sector
employment ballooned to over 700,000 people
in the Philippines and generated $11 billion in
revenues, contributing to a growing middle class.
Several million Filipinos are employed in
BPO, Wikipedia points out. In 2012, they were
projected to grow to 1.3 million in number by
2016 and generate revenues of $27 billion that
year. Today they generate almost $200 billion
including tourism or nearly 60 percent of the
country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The Philippines has another advantage
besides its large supply of English-proficient
speakers, That is cost. With an exchange rate
now of Philippine peso 52 to $1, hundreds,
perhaps thousands of American and European
companies now employ Filipinos typically
through Philippine call centers.
A broad range of services are provided by
these centers, including customer care, education,
financial services, online business-to-business and
business-to-consumer support, travel services
and much more. The BPO industry is one of the
fastest growing in the Philippines and has much
more potential.
BPO facilities are located
“The
Philippines
has another
advantage
besides its large
supply of
English-proficient
speakers, That
is cost.
mainly in Metro Manila
and Cebu City although
other regional areas are
now being promoted and
developed for operations.
The economy of the
Philippines — about
$332 billion — was No.
40 in size in the world
among 190 countries in
2018, according to the
International Monetary
Fund. It was the 12 largest
in Asia, on a nominal GDP basis after China,
Japan, India, South Korea, Russia, Indonesia,
Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and
Singapore.
What’s unique about the Philippines is its
rapid GDP growth, with a four-year rounded
average growth rate of 7.5 percent from 2013
to 2017.
By AJ Bajo
Low-cost rice campaign
reaches WalterMart
The Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI) successfully
extended the availability of
affordable imported well-milled
rice amounting to as low as P38
per kilo to 33 WalterMart stores
nationwide.
Varieties of well-milled rice are
also made available in WalterMart
supermarkets, for only about P34,
P35 and P37 per kilo. Sugar is sold
at P50 per kilo at the store.
Known as the Presyong
Paolo Eugenio Baltao, Union
Bank of the Philippines
(UnionBank) senior vice
president and EON Banking
group head, has been named one
of the World’s Most Influential
Payments Professionals at the
World Payments Congress held
in Mumbai, India last recently.
Baltao was the only Filipino
given the recognition alongside
CEOs and top executives of
other fintech companies
including Madhu Sudhan
of Mastercard, Yasmin
Ulrich of Western Union
Business Solutions and
Siddharth Dhamija
from PayPal India.
The award
recognizes
financial technology
(fintech) industry
professionals who
have played a key
role in driving and
adopting innovative
digital payments
solutions and practices
all over the world.
BALTAO
Baltao has been championing
the digital banking revolution. With
almost three decades of experience
Risonable Dapat (PRD) program,
the government campaign was
initiated last year to mitigate the
effects of inflation.
This removes traders in the
process and makes quality
rice more affordable for
consumers.
The program is also a “preview
of the rice tariffication regime,
which increases access points of
cheaper rice to benefit Filipino
consumers as well as enhances
competitiveness of Filipino
World’s Most Influential
Payments Professional
in product
management
and business
development,
Baltao, together
with his team,
has pioneered
firsts in the
banking
industry
through EON, the country’s first
neo bank and first in Asia to do
Selfie Banking.
farmers,” DTI Secretary Ramon
Lopez was quoted as saying during
the launching on 26 February.
The WalterMart inclusion
brings the total number of
participating major supermarkets
to 471 nationwide.
Other participating markets
include 230 branches of SM
Markets (SM Supermarket, SM
Hypermarket and SM Savemore)
in the Greater Manila Area and
North Luzon, over 83 Puregold
branches in Metro Manila and
Luzon and nationwide branches
of Robinsons Supermarket and
The SM Store recently brought smiles
and joys to thousands of kids around the
country as they received new bundles of
toys — educational board games, plush
toys, play sets and novelty items — from
the Share-A-Toy campaign.
In this joint project of The SM Store and
Toy Kingdom, booths were set up in all The SM
Store and Toy Kingdom branches nationwide
where shoppers had the chance to donate new
and pre-loved toys for the benefit of the less
fortunate children. Big hearted and generous
shoppers donated 53,139 toys at all The SM
Store and Toy Kingdom branches nationwide.
Each donation entitled the customer to a
P50 discount coupon which can be redeemed
for every minimum P500 single-receipt purchase
of regular-priced toys at any branch of The SM
Store and Toy Kingdom. Coupons are valid until
31 December 2019.
These toys were donated to thousands of
less fortunate children from various schools,
orphanages, local hospitals and churches. Among
these were the Eugenia Ravasco Day Care
Center and kids supervised by the Parañaque
Development Foundation Inc.
Less fortunate kids all over the country
received toys from the campaign, as these
were distributed in the Camp Aquino Station
Robinsons Selections.
The rice program is a
partnership between the DTI,
the National Food Authority,
the Department of Agriculture,
various supermarket chains and
participating retailers.
Participating retailers or
importers with direct access to
retailers directly import rice and
sugar under the program and sell
them at or lower than P38 per kilo
and P50 kilo, respectively.
This removes traders in the
process and makes quality rice
more affordable for consumers.
VISITORS stand behind a 3D-printed model created for medical purpose at the stand of the US company Stratasys during the international fair FabCon 3D
and Rapid Tech in Erfurt, Germany. China is quickly closing the gap on the adoption of 3D printing, a sector on the cusp of transforming from prototyping
and design to real-life manufacturing and end-user engagement, according to an industry executive.
CHINA DAILY
These toys were donated to thousands
of less fortunate children from various
schools, orphanages, local hospitals
and churches.
CARS to be exported to Chile wait to be loaded onto a cargo ship in
Lianyungang, Jiangsu province.
CHINA DAILY
China-Chile deal
to boost ties
More items will be exempted
from tariffs after the upgraded
free trade agreement between
China and Chile came into place,
with the exemption likely to cover
98 percent of the items for bilateral
trade, the Ministry of Commerce
said on Friday.
The China-Chile free trade
area will become the country's
highest-level one in terms of the
opening-up in goods trade, the
ministry said in a statement.
The protocol will further
explore the potential
of China-Chile bilateral
economic and trade
cooperation.
The renewed free trade
agreement, signed in 2017, took
effect on Friday. According to it,
China will gradually eliminate
tariffs on some wood products from
Chile within three years and Chile
will immediately eliminate tariffs
on Chinese goods like textiles,
clothing, home appliances and
sugar products.
"The protocol will further
explore the potential of China-Chile
bilateral economic and trade
cooperation and enhance the
level of trade liberalization and
facilitation between the two
'Share-a-toy' at the SM store
countries," the ministry said.
Wei Jianguo, vice president of
the China Center for International
Economic Exchanges, said
China-Chile economic and trade
cooperation can be further
enriched, which is conducive to
deepening ties between China and
Latin America.
Wei said China has an
increasing demand for Chile's
agricultural products such as fruit
and meat and partnership in areas
of e-commerce and environment
has great potential.
Official data showed bilateral
trade reached $42.8 billion in
2018, an increase of 24 percent
year-on-year, accounting for
almost one third of Chile's total
foreign trade. Chile mainly
exports mineral and forestry
products to China, while it
mainly imports textiles, light
industrial products, electronic
and machinery products from
China.
The China-Chile FTA, signed in
2005, was the first FTA that China
signed with a Latin American
nation. In 2017, China and Chile
upgraded the FTA, which covers
protocol dealing with government
procurement, competition policy
and e-commerce businesses.
China Daily
CHILDREN from Eugenia Ravasco Day Care Center happily received their gifts filled with toys from
The SM Store.
Hospital, Cabanatuan City Day Care Center and
Marilao Central School in North Luzon; and the
Likha Molino IV Elementary School, Felicidad
Sy Pediatric Ward and Lipa Archdiocesan Social
Action Commission Inc. in South Luzon.
These also brought joys to the VisMin
area through the Life Care Community
Services Foundation Inc. and Jeepney Bata
Children Ministry in the Visayas and Communal
Elementary School and Northern Mindanao
Medical in Mindanao.
Share-a Toy is one of the ways The SM
Store and its customers team up to share
blessings to the less fortunate.