Clark Freeport's strong ICT capabilities cited

CLARK FREEPORT, Philippines – “Nothing beats Clark.”

Thus said President Arroyo as she cited this freeport’s strong infrastructure capabilities in telecommunications, information and communications technology (ICT), and business process outsourcing (BPO).

“We are now number three. In other words, after Metro Manila and Metro Cebu comes Metro Pampanga. That is where the market has brought us,” said Mrs. Arroyo in her speech during the second National Information and Communication Technology (NICT) Summit 2009 here.

 The President was the guest of honor and speaker during the three-day event, which ended Saturday at the Fontana Convention Center.

The summit, hosted by the Metro Clark ICT Council chaired by George Sorio, Sr., executive vice president of Cyber City Teleservices Inc., was held in recognition of the important role of the ICT in advancing today’s growing business activities here and abroad.

The Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and Cyber City spearheaded the summit, which aims to realize Mrs. Arroyo’s vision to make the Philippines globally competitive in the ICT industry.

CDC president Benigno Ricafort said the event was fully supported by the state-owned corporation as the freeport is envisioned to be the center for ICT industries and other related investment projects in the country.

Mrs. Arroyo said central Pampanga, which consists of Clark, Angeles City, and Mabalacat, has outscored other provinces in the country in terms of telecommunications and ICT infrastructure, thus further expanding the country’s cyber corridor.

“Our cyber corridor started with Metro Manila up to Metro Cebu. And as part of this roadmap, you in the private sector, together with the government, expanded that cyber corridor from the two centers of excellence – Metro Manila and Metro Cebu – and we are very happy about central Pampanga consisting of Clark, Angeles and Mabalacat,” she said.

“In fact, I congratulate Clark for your fast ICT growth; you have now 15,000 ICT workers,” she added.