IT-BPO investments hit P329 B - PEZA
The IT-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector has generated P328.559 billion in investments, accounting for 12.33 percent of total investments in the country’s various economic zones since 2000, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported.
PEZA Director General Charito B. Plaza shared the data during an industry briefing with the IT-Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) led by President and CEO Jack Madrid. During the briefing, PEZA updated industry leaders about working-from-home (WFH) policies, clarifications, and developments in the global marketplace. McKinsey & Company also provided insights and how other organizations have been impacted by challenging operating models and what trends are shaping their plans for the future.
Overall, the IT-BPO sector has generated P 328.559 Billion in investments (or 12.33 percent share out of total PEZA approved investments), $11.537 billion exports, and 962,304 direct jobs over the last two decades.
In her presentation, PEZA attributed the influx of investments in the IT-BPO sector when the agency allowed the registration of vertical ecozones and IT locator companies in 2000. As of November 2021, there were 297 IT Parks/Centers and 1,273 IT-BPO locator companies registered with PEZA.
Despite the unprecedented impact of the COVID pandemic these past two years, the industry has proven itself to be one of the most robust and fastest growing industries in the country. With their unhampered operations since day one of the pandemic, IT locators have sustained the jobs and kept the economy afloat. They have implemented alternative work schemes and provided various assistance to their employees to ensure business continuity as well as the health and safety of their employees.
In keeping with the agile work environment and in support of the ecozone industry at this time of the pandemic, PEZA also allowed their work-from-home(WFH)-hybrid scheme. This provided relief by way of tax deductions for COVID-related expenses, implemented "contactless pathways" through online payment system and other online facilitation of inspections and permits lobbied for the lifting of ecozone ban in Metro Manila.
PEZA also cooperated with various agencies such as the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB), legislative and other business concerns of the ecozone industry, and conducted Global Biz to aggressively promote the ecozones and the Philippines as a viable investment destination to hasten our recovery and bid to become an upper-middle-income economy in 2022.