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Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Japan was the leading Philippine economic zones’ investor for 2021. According to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Japan has contributed a total of 27% in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), amounting to P727.7 billion (US$14.3 billion). Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos are employed in the 964 PEZA-approved Japanese companies residing in the country. The United States is not far behind, in third spot with P400.4 billion (US$7.9 billion) invested. PEZA Deputy Director-General Tereso Panga said that American companies registered with the agency employ more than 300,000 Filipinos nationwide. The organization is confident that the US trade and investments will increase in the future as President Joe Biden is keen on reviving the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which impacts the Philippines and the whole ASEAN region.
To further attract FDIs, additional economic zones are in the works, with 18 areas in Mindanao alone. These ecozones will prioritize the agriculture, agroforestry, bio-energy, and fishing sectors in the region. Aside from these industries, PEZA is also planning to develop the halal food industry to compete in the global halal market which is estimated to be worth US$3 trillion. As of February, there are 37 ecozones located in Mindanao, with 15 of them operating as IT hubs. Global investors seem impressed with the local market opportunities. MTD Philippines, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s MTD Capital, is set to invest P12 billion (US$236.5 million) in the country over the next six years. President and CEO Patrick Nicholas David said that this venture was made possible through the tax incentives offered by PEZA. MTD is known for building Clark’s sports facility that was used for the 30th ASEAN games in 2019.
To get ahead of the upcoming election, PEZA Director-General Charito Plaza assured investors that their investments will remain safe despite the change in administration next year. While the Duterte government had a hand in the implementation of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act, Plaza highlighted that different agencies and sectors provided their inputs for the improvement of this law. The Director-General also stated that she is optimistic that the next admin will support the agency and its causes.
A report has shown that 21.5% of Filipino youth have been unable to find jobs during the pandemic. Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said that the quarantine restrictions prevented the young workers from finding employment as they could not leave their homes. The department has enacted several programs to help the unemployed population and online platforms were made accessible to make job hunting easier. In other employment news, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) had sounded the alarm over the “no vaccine, no salary” scheme implemented in several companies in the country. TUCP is urging DOLE to investigate these claims and issue another labor advisory outlining the consequences that employers may face if they are in breach of the labor code. TUCP President and party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said that they are ready to provide the department with the names of the establishments that are implementing this rule to their employees.
To help the country’s numerous COVID-19 response programs, the European Union (EU) is set to give P47 million (US$927,000) in humanitarian aid to the Philippines. EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said that the pandemic is threatening the lives of Filipinos, especially those living in remote areas where access to medical care is limited. EU’s monetary aid is set to benefit over 70,000 people in far-flung areas across Mindanao. Let’s hope that this donation reaches the people in need.
Metro Manila’s recent shift of quarantine restrictions to a less strict Alert Level 3 will bring back over 300,000 jobs to the labor market, said Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez. Lopez said that the reopening of the service sectors and the approved higher operating capacity will help displaced workers find employment. If that’s not positive enough, workers may even expect a salary increase next year! According to the Salary Budget Planning Report by insurance company Willis Towers Watson (WLTW), employers are willing to raise their salary offers to up to 5.6% to solve the hiring and retention challenges that they are seeing in the local workforce. Along with pharmaceutical and health facilities, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) providers said they’re looking to hike their salary offers by an average of 6.1% in 2022.
The Philippines is becoming a top target of trojan attacks in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), receiving 22% of all the cyberattacks this year. International cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Security Network said that the reliance on technology for every financial activity has contributed to the rising number of malware attacks in the country. The report added that this will only increase as more people shift to digital payments. Meanwhile, technology company Cisco reported that more than half (57%) of local Small and Midsize Businesses (SMBs) have suffered a cyber attack in the past year. According to the report, the transition to remote working has made corporate networks more vulnerable to cybercriminals. About 73% of the victims lost important customer information due to these attacks, while 28% lost over US$500,000 in fraudulent transactions.
Thursday, October 21, 2021
NEWS THIS WEEK
20 October 2021
- TUCP urged DOLE to probe the ‘no jab, no pay’ scheme – read article…
- 13th-month pay loans to be offered by DOLE to micro-companies – read article…
- EU to give P47M humanitarian aid to PH – read article…
- Filipino youth unemployment climbed to 21.5% – read article…
19 October 2021
- PH GDP reduced for the sixth time to 3.4% – Oxford Economics – read article…
- PH firms projected to have a 5.6% salary raise in 2022 – read article…
- Malaysia’s MTD to invest P12bn in PH – read article…
- NCR’s alert level 3 to bring back 300K jobs – DTI – read article…
18 October 2021
- Japan named the largest investor in PH ecozones with P727.7 B – read article…
- 57% of PH SMBs hit by cyber attack in the past year — Cisco – read article…
- Malaysia named PH’s sixth FDI source – read article…
- PH leads APAC in e-wallet adoption – Kaspersky – read article…
15 October 2021
- Investors told not to worry about PH politics – read article…
- Addt’l ecozones to be built in Mindanao – read article…
- US investments in PH ecozones reached P400bn – read article…
- PH top target of financial hackers – Kaspersky – read article…
14 October 2021
- DHL, DTI collaborate to aid MSMEs – read article…
- White hats to help bridge PH cybersecurity gaps – read article…
- Metro Manila’s restriction lowered to alert level 3 starting Oct 16 – read article…
