IT-BPM sector urged to continue investing in dev’t of Pinoy talents

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary

Alfredo Pascual has called on the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) sector to continue investing in the development of Filipino talents to sustain its growth.

Speaking at the IT-BPM Talent Summit in Makati City Thursday, Pascual said although the Philippines remains to be the second largest destination for outsourcing services, local players should not be complacent in upskilling their workforce.

“We cannot be complacent. We need to develop the digital talents of the Philippines’ human resources and make them globally competitive to sustain and fuel the growth of our IT-BPM industry,” he said.

The local IT-BPM, which is valued between USD265 billion and USD275 billion, accounts for up to 18 percent of the global ITBPM talents.

“It is our responsibility as a

GSIS assures balanced selection of domestic, global investments

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) continues to boost its asset portfolio as it eyes various investments locally and abroad with maximized returns.

GSIS President and General Manager Wick Veloso said they try to invest the State pension fund’s money in fixed income, loans, equities, properties and global infrastructure, among others.

Veloso recently signed an agreement with its New Yorkbased global infrastructure partners worth USD300 million or over PHP16 billion in infrastructure projects.

He said the state-pension fund continues to look for local opportunities like infrastructure projects that will produce good returns.

Citing its investment in listed mining firm Nickel Asia through a share purchase, Veloso said GSIS expects the country to eventually acquire the technology in making electronic vehicles (e-vehicles).

“These are very important minerals and eventually, provide an opportunity for jobs to create a lithium battery business operation and eventually evolve into an electric vehicle business,” he said.

nation to harness this potential and develop a workforce that is not only competitive but also a formidable force in the ever-evolving digital landscape,” Pascual said.

He urged IT-BPM companies in the Philippines to support education and training programs focusing on digital skills, such as coding, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.

He added that the DTI and its investment promotion arm, the

“We constantly engage ourselves. There is this fund that we are able to review and during the review, these were manned by ex-World Bank president and ex-IMF (International Monetary Fund) president. We are familiar with investment in infrastructure in various countries globally even in the United States,” he said.

Veloso added that “it is our duty to be able to find these kind of investments because we cannot just continue to focus locally.”

The GSIS chief reassured the public that with the research team they have, investment opportunities are being reviewed thoroughly before making corresponding recommendations.

“That is to make sure that we maximize the returns so we can improve the benefits of our members and extend the Fund’s life,” he said.

GSIS’s actuarial life is currently at 32 years and Veloso explained that for this to improve, the agency needs to ex-