From left, Professionals Asia President Klaus Preschle, Dr. Nikolaus Breuel, Regional Chairman of the Wirtschaftsrat der CDU e.V. - Wirtschaftsrates Berlin-Brandenburg, Philippine Ambassador Maria Cleofe Natividad, ECCP Vice President Henry Schumacher and Philippine Commercial Counsellor Jose Antonio Buencamino. Dr. Breuel conveys that the Philippines had developed in the past ten years from “the best known secret in Asia” to the “rock in the IT and Business Process Outsourcing Industry.”

The Wirtschaftsrat der CDU Berlin-Brandenburg is a large and influential private business association affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the largest political party in Germany.  It has 850 members and a network of 4,000 contacts.

In her opening remarks, Ambassador Maria Cleofe Natividad stressed that there is now high foreign investor confidence on the Philippines and that the administration of President Benigno Aquino III is actively seeking public-private partnerships and  is encouraging stronger foreign direct investments.  The Ambassador also expressed her appreciation that the Wirtschaftsrat der CDU is working with the Philippine Embassy to promote the Philippines as a viable industrial production base and profitable investment destination for German companies.

Forty Berlin-based German entrepreneurs and consultants attended the business forum and listened to three key presentations explaining the benefits and advantages of doing business in the Philippines, which is seeing a phenomenal growth in the number of homegrown call centers and BPO/KPOs that compete with the best in the world.   

Commercial Counsellor Jose Antonio Buencamino gave a presentation on “Doing Business in the Philippines,” where he discussed the Philippines as a strategic business location as well as the incentive packages available for foreign investors. He emphasized the advantages of locating at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, or PEZA.

Mr. Henry Schumacher, Executive Vice President of the European  Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, talked about “Perspectives on a Growing Market” and stressed that European investors are earning good money in the Philippines.  Mr. Schumacher highlighted the Philippines’ Seven Big Winners: agribusiness; infrastructure; business process outsourcing; creative industry; manufacturing; mining; and tourism, medical travel and retirement.  He also shared his views on doing business from the point of view of a German entrepreneur and from someone with more than three decades of positive experience in the Philippines.

Mr. Klaus Preschle, former Philippine resident representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, and the founder and president of the BPO Consulting Professionals Asia, gave a presentation on “The Emerging Industries – IT/BPO/KPO.”  He noted that – as the country maintains a first class IT infrastructure, competitive cost and a highly skilled workforce – the IT/BPO/KPO sector would post strong medium-term growth with increasing demand from Europe.  Mr. Preschle further noted that the Philippines ranked number one worldwide in terms of voiced-based customer support, and number two in terms of non-voice services.  He said that the Philippines employs around 680,000 in the IT/BPO/KPO sector, second only to India).

The three speakers also expounded on the strengths of the Filipino workforce, as well as their cultural compatibility with the western world and outstanding service orientation.  In the forum, the presenters emphasized that the Philippines is ranked as the world’s best in business English proficiency, and the third largest English-speaking country in the world.   (END)