29 February 2016 – The Philippine Consulate General in New York, in cooperation with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) and the Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines (HIMAP), hosted the first Philippine Healthcare Information Management Service (HIMS) Roadshow at Kalayaan Hall to highlight the Philippines’ comparative advantage as well as the achievements and contribution to the economy of the IT-Business Process Management sector (IT-BPM).
The half-day HIMS presentation was attended by 60 local American hospitals, healthcare practitioners and business executives. Presentations on the investment climate and macroeconomic fundamentals of the Philippines were delivered by Trade Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado; Investment Opportunities in the Philippines by HIMAP President Ms. Cristina Coronel and VP-Healthcare for Operations Ms. Myla Reyes; and Overview of the Telecom Infrastructure by Ms. Jasmin Ignacio of Globe Telecoms. This was followed by an open forum and networking luncheon, where the delegates had the opportunity to engage prospective clients.
In his welcome remarks, Philippine Consul General to New York Mario De Leon, Jr. said that, “the PH IT-BPM industry is a significant part of this Philippine success story, aside from overseas Filipino (OF) remittances. From its humble beginnings as a fledgling industry in the early 2000s, accounting for about 0.075% of GDP; by 2011, the BPM industry became the fastest growing job provider in the private sector, generating more than 638,000 jobs that year and revenues of US $11 billion or almost 5% of the 2011 GDP. Fast forward to 2015, PH IT-BPM has grown by leaps and bounds, employing more than 1 million Filipinos and generating US$22 billion total revenues.”
Consul General De Leon underscored that the PH IT-BPM is at a crossroad and pointed out that there are emerging and exciting opportunities for the healthcare industry. The PH Healthcare Information BPM sector and HIMAP are on the right path in seeking out markets abroad for higher-value BPM that requires more skilled workers. To this end, the Consul General said that the IT-BPO Council in New York can be a valuable resource. He also emphasized the importance of the right messaging as a key to success and understanding the market and creating new opportunities where none exist. The HIMS started at Kalayaan Hall where the first forum on the potential of healthcare BPM in the U.S. and the industry was just starting, he added.
In her presentation, Undersecretary Terrado conveyed the Philippines’ economic recovery narrative. She highlighted the sustained economic growth during President Aquino’s term which was buoyed by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, a good governance platform resulting in increased foreign tourism, more Foreign Direct investments and achieving strong performance ratings by international credit agencies – all showing the significant boost in business confidence for the Philippine economy. She cited OF remittances and the role of IT-BPM in strengthening the country’s economic position.
During the open forum, the attendees lauded the efforts of the government, the Philippine delegation and HIMAP to bring the HIMS to New York and other parts of the U.S. Several community members inquired about opportunities to promote other IT-BPM sectors such as creative process outsourcing, animation and legal outsourcing and what steps are the government undertaking to create a better investment environment in light of constitutional and legal issues.
The event concluded with a networking luncheon session where prospective clients had an opportunity to interview and discuss their business preferences with the service providers present. END