The government will continue to support the expansion of the information technology and business process management industry, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.
Diokno, speaking at the recent Contact Center Association of the Philippines conference, said the “government stands ready to support the continued growth of IT-BPM companies by building an enabling business environment in order to boost the country’s competitiveness in the field of business processes and services.”
The Fiscal Incentives Review Board chaired by the Department of Finance decided to allow the transfer of registered information technology-business process management companies to the Board of Investments from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to resolve the sector’s long-standing issue on tax incentive claims while performing business activities beyond their zone limits.
Diokno said the FIRB understood the motivation behind the work-from-home setups as new business models amid the changes in the business landscape.
He said given the global contact center and business processing services markets’ exponential growth in the past 15 years, the DOF strongly recognizes the need to integrate new, adaptive and sustainable workforce models to boost the Philippines’ competitiveness in the field of business processes and services.
The IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines predicted that the industry would generate another 1.1 million direct jobs by 2028.
The Philippines remains one of the most preferred locations for delivering business processing and contact center services in the Asia-Pacific region. With various firms employing new techniques and work models, the IT-BPM sector has effectively set the stage for digitalization to flourish in the Philippines.
Diokno cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for the industry to evolve faster––resulting in a dynamic, reliable and significantly more agile IT-BPM industry that is aligned with the DOF’s push for a sustainable and digitally-powered economy.
Diokno, the head of the economic team, said the increased relevance of the IT-BPM industry in today’s economy had enabled digitalization to flourish in the Philippines.
“Let me assure you that the Department of Finance and the FIRB are one with the Contact Center Association of the Philippines in promoting the country as an industry leader and top investment destination in the contact center sector,” he said.