By Caesar Vallejos
Eagle News Service online correspondent
(Eagle News) – Business leaders feel that the country’s economic growth will continue even after the May 2016 elections, no matter who the next president would be.
“Even if we elect Vice Ganda for President on May 9, 6-7 percent economic growth will continue. So don’t be too anxious about the elections,” said distinguished Philippine economist, Dr. Bernardo Villegas, in a gathering of CEOs to launch the search for top businesses and individuals with phenomenal performance.
This is good news according to Villegas who nevertheless defined the qualities of “the right president” who will lead the country.
The right one, according to Villegas, is someone who will unleash the billions and billions of pesos in infrastructures. Without endorsing anyone, Villegas said that with the right president, “our growth rate will at 8 to 10 percent in the next 6 years. So that is the difference. The future is here,” he said.
Juan Victor Hernandez, FVP and Head of PLDT Alpha Enterprise, said this is a “very exciting time for us as we all await with baited breath the transition of the Philippine government to new leadership this coming May.”
“What is important for the business community is that whatever happens, whoever is the leader, the business community is still going to be a positive change agent for the better for the country,” he said.
Felino Palafox, Jr, Principal Architect-Urban Planner and Founding Partner of Palafox Associates cited visionary leadership, strong political will, good planning, good governance and good management as the qualities by a better leader. He projected that by the March 2021, the Philippines will be 500 years old and in the top twenty economies in the world.
Global impact of the Philippines
“Some things that might not be known is that the Philippines actually provides a lot more of a global impact to help people with their footprints, with environment, social, and governance issues,” James Donovan, CEO of ADEC Innovations said.
Unknown to many, top companies around the world send global carbon footprints information in the Philippines and ADEC Innovations score them.
Donovan, who will be awarding the Green Company of the Year at the Asia CEO Awards added, “ADEC never had to leave and come to the Philippines to find value because we started here. We’ve grown from the Philippines. We take Philippine talent and technology and put it together and deliver sustainability.”
Bringing attention to the event’s theme “The Future is Now”, Donovan said, “we are in a resource-constrained world. It’s fantastic that the Philippines is growing, but in reality, the world is facing a lot of issues from water shortages to climate change. The list is endless.”
He said that outsourcing industry for the past 20 years, has had a phenomenal growth, “but the reality is we have to up our game, develop in the Philippines, and bring it to the world. It’s fantastic and we are passionate to be part of that story of bringing the Philippine talent in the global market. We are running operations now in 12 other countries,” he said.
Ranked 1st to 5th in the world
“There are so many great things in our country,” Palafox boasted.
He cited a number of examples: The Philippines is number one in the world in marine biodiversity and call centers; is second in geothermal energy and BPOs; has the third longest coastline; fourth in gold reserves and in ship-building; fifth in all other mineral resources; and number 12 in human resources.
“I have been an OFW. They used to call us expats. And the Philippine expat is the favored employee of kings, queens, sheiks, cruise ships and what have you,” Palafox narrated.
What will drive the Philippines to the future
Josep Elias, General Manager of ADP Philippines cited the quality of education and the culture that makes the Philippines unique. “The culture of service and to help others is very different here. If you don’t have this genuine interest to help your neighbor, it’s very impossible to excel on your service,” he explained.
For Capital One, the Philippines has become one of its top performing sites.
Mr. Peter Hayden, General Manager attributed it to the amazing values of the Filipino.
“There’s an unbelievable work ethic that our team brings to the table everyday and their compassion for understanding the needs of our customers. The proof is in the scores that our team has put on the board; some of the best customer service metrics, some of the best quality metrics in a very heavily regulated industry,” he explained.
Mr. Vikram Singh, Country Manager of the TCS Philippines, shared the same sentiment. “We had seen the great value of Filipinos in respect to their customer empathy, customer service, and customer service excellence,” he stressed.
While the Philippines has such great capability, James Donovan focused on the need for future investments on homegrown innovation that the Philippines can bring to the rest of the world in the next 15 years. For him, the next business must come from innovation and development of intellectual property.