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The Business
Excuse to Be in Manila in February
By Michael Alan Hamlin
February 4, 2003
e-Services Philippines, the annual
trade exhibition organized by the Center for Trade Expositions and
Missions (CITEM), has generated some substantial business opportunities
for participating local IT firms according to executives of three
regular exhibitors I talked to last week. The companies are Infrontier
Philippines, Radix Systems, and Titanium Technologies. Those results
- and the prospect of more new business - have convinced these companies
and over 80 others to participate in this year's February 13-15
exhibit at the World Trade Center.
If you're involved in the ICT or
ICT-enabled sectors, you might want to consider making a trip back
to see some of these firms, especially if you are interested in
looking at opportunities to market some of the world-class solutions
being developed here to U.S. companies. Or you may have an interest
in exploring potential contractors for outsourcing e-services such
as engineering and architectural design. The exhibit provides the
opportunity to see the best firms in the country under one roof.
You see everyone you need to in a short three-day period, so it's
effective in terms of both investment and time.
Consider the results previous exhibitors
have obtained from participation in the exhibit. Infrontier offers
supply chain management, e-Commerce, HR outsourcing, and technology
management services. The company signed close to 20 contacts and
received a number of other strong inquiries last February, mostly
from local distribution and logistics companies, according to the
company's marketing manager Jonalyn Caisip. "We were able to
close deals worth P10 million with local logistics companies I-Links
and FastCargo for the provision of a warehouse management solution,"
she said.
Ivy Gomez, systems development manager
for Radix Systems, which is a local IT applications development
and outsourcing company, told me her company received over 250 inquiries
during last year's exhibit, and is like Caisip expecting even more
this year. "Local companies in the manufacturing, automotive,
call center, education, and IT industries and government agencies
from NCR and other regions made inquiries regarding our systems
development and payroll services. We also received a number of inquiries
from overseas," she said.
Following the exhibit, Radix made
presentations to over 20 companies and closed a number of important
deals, according to Gomez. She explained that their payroll outsourcing
service - called Payroll Express - also recorded a "substantial
boost" in sales revenue from clients who signed up for one-year
service contracts. "We are hoping to acquire new contracts,
and sign contract renewals during this year's exhibit," she
said.
Jerry Tieng, president of local solutions
and web-based applications service company Titanium Technologies,
explained that his company received approximately 50 business inquiries
and was able to present their service offerings to over 15 new prospects.
"We are now dealing with companies such as Orient Freight,
China Bank, East-West Bank, and a few semicon companies," he
said.
The event also serves as a venue
to network with other companies and to get updates on current market
trends and best business practices, according to Tieng. Another
benefit, he said, is that e-Services Philippines benchmarks Filipino
IT expertise. "The trade exhibit presents an ideal opportunity
to showcase Filipino talent and capabilities and to show that we
are at par with the world's best in IT. It's a solid effort to establish
the Philippines as a choice provider of world-class e-Services."
Caisip and Gomez described the fair
as a cost-effective means of marketing their companies and their
service offerings to prospective clients from various industry sectors,
as well as international firms whose representatives visit the exhibit.
Indeed, CITEM executive director
Felicidad Tan-Co explained that CITEM is aggressively marketing
the exhibit to foreign delegates. "We expect up to 10,000 local
and international trade visitors from the U.S., Europe, and Asia
to participate in the exhibit this year," she said. The third
day of the exhibit will be open to the general public, to give them
an idea of the kind of work these quality firms are doing.
The 2003 trade exhibit will highlight
five IT sectors: animation, back office operations (business data
processing, database management, finance and accounting services,
insurance claims processing, supply chain management, marketing
and sales, logistics management, and human resource development),
contact centers, medical transcription, and software development.
Companies from Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao have confirmed participation
as exhibitors, and as of last week, many more were signing up.
If you're looking for a chance to
head back this way, this is the business reason to do so.
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing
director of consultancy TeamAsia and the author of three books on
Asian economies and companies. His latest book is Marketing Asian
Places, of which he is a co-author (Wiley, 2001), and he is currently
at work on High Visibility: The Making and Marketing of Asian Professionals
into Celebrities. Write him at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2003 Michael Alan
Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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