Economic boom, not political bombshells
September 12, 2005 | 12:00am
Let ‘s change the national mood of gloom and grief by encouraging optimism, reforms, less politics and more business. Do you want to take a break from the divisive, acrimonious, largely unproductive and scandalously corrupt politics dominating TV news programs and newspaper headlines? Are you wondering whether you should stay in your present business or shift to another line? Are you looking for new, fast-growing sunrise businesses that have the potential to become a major businesses, and do you need hand-holding from experienced people? Are your children entrepreneurial and want to choose their own paths? Do you want to help defy the skeptics and pessimists by becoming an entrepreneur to help save the economy?
If your answer is yes to any of the above, don’t miss the Philippine Business Conference (PBC) on October 11 to 13.
Organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) with garments industrialist Donald G. Dee as president and Anvil Business Club chairman George Siy as conference chairman, the 31st PBC offers a new and exciting business opportunities on today’s fast-growing industries, must-have information on adjusted economic policies, hard-truth business facts, direct concerns from the foreign business community, entertainment, and perhaps even political bombshells.
They will be presenting several industries that can all grow into multi-billion dollar industries. Hopefully, the PBC will awaken the businessmen of the Philippines to the challenges of globalization instead of being sidetracked or depressed by the horrendous politics that have for decades wasted away our economic vitality and productivity.
Operators from the call center and business process outsourcing industry will give insights on their explosive growth, and how you can get into this industry without spending and risking a lot, plus where you can get the technology, find the market and the best places to set up. From $490 million last year, Philippine call centers will bill $1 billion this year (the entire BPO industry will bill nearly $2 billion in 2005 from less than $150 million in year 2000, covering accounting, insurance processing, legal and medical transcriptions, animation, etc.). This means that in one year alone, the growth of the BPO industry outstrips our exports industries ranging from garments to bananas. After the speeches on technology, you will get to see Teletech, a $1 billion call center, and outsourcing company leader SPI in action via offsite tours.
The country’s immigrant taipans Henry Sy of SM Group, John Gokongwei Jr. of Crown Plaza Galleria and Cebu Pacific Air, and Lucio Tan of Philippine Airlines and Century Park Hotel envision tourism as a linchpin of Philippine economic revival.
Gokongwei recently said that his business group is investing billions in the economy this year, despite the political tumult, with his airline firm alone investing $700 million or P39 billion.
The Philippine Business Conference will also discuss specific opportunities in tourism as a giant global industry that can be the saving grace of the non-tech-savvy people if planned and executed right. Tourism revenue surged to $1.61 billion from $1.22 billion last year. There are over 300,000 Korean tourists this year flooding our golf courses, schools and resorts, including their favorite honeymoon destination, Boracay. Hotel occupancy rates in the Philippines are the highest ever, resort rates even in third-class locations have gone up. Every resort in Cebu and Bohol is expanding. There are more than 20 million well-off mainland Chinese tourists now trotting the globe, but of that, less than two percent came to the Philippines. We should rectify this situation and grab the overflow going to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and others places.
At the conference, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano and PCCI official Samie Lim of Automatic Appliances/Blims Furniture will speak about the five-million-tourists plan by year 2010, where airports will be built and flights added, and other moves to remove the frustrating bottlenecks.
Medical tourism and retirement living are specific sub-areas of tourism that are billion-dollar opportunities. Why is the Philippines, the acknowledged world-famous exporter of nurses and caregivers, not aspiring to surpass India and Thailand in this lucrative global industry? Why do government leaders keep on begging Japan to open its market to our health professionals when we could just invest in health facilities here and let the Japanese spend their money here?
While we are beginning to get some of the overseas work on heart operations, breast augmentation, liposuction, even oncology and reconstructive surgeries, we still need to improve the peace and security situation, improve tax incentives, reliable government contracts, language proficiencies and support services before we can get the real mainstream of clients and major investments.
Retirement living has an even bigger potential, given that instead of a tourist staying here for only four days, medical tourist for one to two weeks, a retiree will live here. Construction, groceries, garments, food, every industry will benefit if we are able to attract some of the over 200 million aging populations of Europe, Japan, America that increasingly can no longer afford health care in their countries and have diminishing populations of youth to take care of them.
The major speaker in this year’s conference is Indonesian tycoon Aburizal Bakrie. PLDT boss Manny V. Pangilinan will also speak. PCCI has promised that there will be a no-holds-barred session with President GMA’s economic team, which includes Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Budget Secretary Romulo Neri, and Trade Secretary Peter Favila.
Visit its website at www.philippinechamber.com/pbce.aspx and register online or by calling PCCI at 844-5713. Thanks for all your messages. Send comments or suggestions to wilson_lee_flores@yahoo.com or wilson_lee_flores@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 14277, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
If your answer is yes to any of the above, don’t miss the Philippine Business Conference (PBC) on October 11 to 13.
Organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) with garments industrialist Donald G. Dee as president and Anvil Business Club chairman George Siy as conference chairman, the 31st PBC offers a new and exciting business opportunities on today’s fast-growing industries, must-have information on adjusted economic policies, hard-truth business facts, direct concerns from the foreign business community, entertainment, and perhaps even political bombshells.
They will be presenting several industries that can all grow into multi-billion dollar industries. Hopefully, the PBC will awaken the businessmen of the Philippines to the challenges of globalization instead of being sidetracked or depressed by the horrendous politics that have for decades wasted away our economic vitality and productivity.
Operators from the call center and business process outsourcing industry will give insights on their explosive growth, and how you can get into this industry without spending and risking a lot, plus where you can get the technology, find the market and the best places to set up. From $490 million last year, Philippine call centers will bill $1 billion this year (the entire BPO industry will bill nearly $2 billion in 2005 from less than $150 million in year 2000, covering accounting, insurance processing, legal and medical transcriptions, animation, etc.). This means that in one year alone, the growth of the BPO industry outstrips our exports industries ranging from garments to bananas. After the speeches on technology, you will get to see Teletech, a $1 billion call center, and outsourcing company leader SPI in action via offsite tours.
Gokongwei recently said that his business group is investing billions in the economy this year, despite the political tumult, with his airline firm alone investing $700 million or P39 billion.
The Philippine Business Conference will also discuss specific opportunities in tourism as a giant global industry that can be the saving grace of the non-tech-savvy people if planned and executed right. Tourism revenue surged to $1.61 billion from $1.22 billion last year. There are over 300,000 Korean tourists this year flooding our golf courses, schools and resorts, including their favorite honeymoon destination, Boracay. Hotel occupancy rates in the Philippines are the highest ever, resort rates even in third-class locations have gone up. Every resort in Cebu and Bohol is expanding. There are more than 20 million well-off mainland Chinese tourists now trotting the globe, but of that, less than two percent came to the Philippines. We should rectify this situation and grab the overflow going to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and others places.
At the conference, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano and PCCI official Samie Lim of Automatic Appliances/Blims Furniture will speak about the five-million-tourists plan by year 2010, where airports will be built and flights added, and other moves to remove the frustrating bottlenecks.
While we are beginning to get some of the overseas work on heart operations, breast augmentation, liposuction, even oncology and reconstructive surgeries, we still need to improve the peace and security situation, improve tax incentives, reliable government contracts, language proficiencies and support services before we can get the real mainstream of clients and major investments.
Retirement living has an even bigger potential, given that instead of a tourist staying here for only four days, medical tourist for one to two weeks, a retiree will live here. Construction, groceries, garments, food, every industry will benefit if we are able to attract some of the over 200 million aging populations of Europe, Japan, America that increasingly can no longer afford health care in their countries and have diminishing populations of youth to take care of them.
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