RP fields topnotch team to Asia ICT event

Major players in the telecommunications and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors will represent the country in this year’s premier technology show in Asia to be held next month in Singapore.

The Philippine Pavilion returns to the Raffles City Convention Center for the third time in the 17-year history of CommunicAsia2006, the most established ICT show in Asia held every year in June.

Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary Fe Agoncillo-Reyes, executive director of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the trade promotions body of the Department of Trade and Industry, said the country’s participation in CommunicAsia2006 is an opportunity for the Philippines to highlight its robust telecoms hub and promote the creativity and innovation of Filipinos in mobile technology applications.

The CITEM-led Philippine Pavilion is composed of leaders in wireless services, including Chikka Asia, D3Systems, Innove Communications, Mannasoft Technology, Smart Communications, Globe Telecom and PLDT Business Solutions, and Mabuhay Satellite.

"The Philippine presence in CommunicAsia aims to promote the Philippine brand of ICT services to Asia and the world, as well as provide a venue for our local ICT companies to expand markets," said Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila in a statement.

The Philippines is a recognized leader in mobile technology applications. Several firms have been recognized internationally for their world-class wireless capabilities such as Chikka, which is the first Philippine mobile application developer to receive the CMMI Level 5 ranking under the Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute.

Globe’s G-Cash, on the other hand, was named Best Mobile Messaging Service by the GSM Association, while Smart Money was adjudged the most innovative GSM Wireless Service at the 3GSM World Congress in 2002. PLDT was also named best emerging market carrier by Telecom Asia.

Other Philippine exhibitors include Emerson Network Power, Commission on Information and Communications Technology, Institute of Electronics and Communications Engineers of the Philippines, and Scotty Tele Transport Corp. of Asia Inc.

According to Reyes, the Philippine participation in CommunicAsia is also an opportunity for local firms to meet potential business partners and enhance the country’s position as a hub for global infocomm business.

In a press conference, Reyes disclosed that CITEM is shouldering 45 percent of the cost of participation, or around P890,000, as a form of government support to the ICT sector. The rest of the expenses will be shouldered by the private companies joining the exhibit.

Ernesto Alberto, senior vice president of PLDT’s Corporate Business Group, however, said the total cost of participation is minimal compared to the expected returns in terms of business contracts and international exposure for the Philippine companies.

In last year’s event, Alberto and Reyes said $2.1 million was generated by the Philippine showcase.

"Coming in as a unified contingent is a win-win situation as we are able to promote Philippine products and capabilities as a whole in the entire spectrum of the ICT space," said Gary Gonzalez of Innove Communications.

"The critical factor is for us to band together and present the Philippines as a complete venue for investment and outsourcing destination," added Alberto.

Reyes said that more than shouldering part of the cost of participation, the government, through CITEM, help match Philippine companies with potential investors abroad. While it is hard to pinpoint which investments came in because of the Philippines’ participation in CommunicAsia events, she said the technology exhibit is an important part of the strategy of letting the world know about the state-of-the-art technologies or services that the country can provide.

Alberto revealed that the call center and business process outsourcing industry in the country alone is a $10-billion industry and growing.

Focusing on Philippine brand exposure, added Gonzalez, is key to fully exploiting the opportunities.

"Our experience with CommunicAsia is that we are able to see what other countries are doing, which we could learn from," he said.

Stephen Tan, chief executive of Singapore Exhibition Services Pte Ltd., said that that is what trade exhibitions are all about. "I am confident that the Philippine team will meet with potential investors in this show," he said.

Aside from the Philippine Pavilion, CommunicAsia2006 will feature 21 international group pavilions, including Korea, the European Union and China, among others.

The industry leaders at the show include Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE, NTT DoCoMo, Lucent, Motorola, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and LG Electronics.

In a presentation, Tan said the highlights of this year’s exhibit are mobile entertainment, IPTV, 3G, VoIP, NGN, and WiMax.

"Not only is CommunicAsia a highly relevant event to the needs of Philippine visitors, it is an important global platform for the Philippines to showcase its ICT capabilities to the world and to forge international business links," he said.

Meanwhile, the conference arm of the four-day show – CommunicAsia2006 Summit – will feature top-level executives as speakers, including Philippine experts Don Rae, chief operations adviser of PLDT, and Andrew Buay, chief operating adviser of Globe Telecom.

Speakers and industry personalities from other parts of the world include: Thorsten Heinz, member of the group board of Siemens Communications; Allan Lew, CEO of SingTel; Dato Abdul Wahid Bin Omar, group CEO of Telekom Malaysia; Greg Caitabiano, president and chief operating officer of SOMA Networks; Neil Montefiore, CEO of MobileOne; William Barney, president and CEO of Asia Netcom; and Stephen Falk, vice president for global standards of Sprint.

The 17th edition of CommunicAsia will be held simultaneously this year with Enterprise IT, which will showcase the latest applications for vertical industries such as financial services, government, health care, education and transportation and logistics; and BroadcastAsia2006, the most established and longest running broadcasting industry event in Asia.

Tan said the three events are expected to draw over 60,000 visitors, half of whom are from outside Singapore.