PH – Australia Trade Doubles to A$3.9B
According to Elodie Journet of the ?Australian Trade and Investment Commission, the volume of bilateral trade between Australia and the Philippines is now worth A$3.9 billion.
In 2010, the figure stood at A$1.5 billion.
Journet, the ?Senior Trade Commissioner to the Philippines, says that there has been a marked shift in the industries that have been the focus of investment. Australian companies used to invest in commodities, but now it is business processes. 280 Australian companies are present in the KPO and BPO services sectors at present. Between them, they have pumped in A$10 billion worth of investment and employ some 30,000 workers.
Telecom major Telstra is the largest, with 15,000 contact center employees on its payroll. There are also startups, like Canva, which are seeking to improve their presence in the Philippines.
The call center is gone, and today BPO equates to more knowledge-based services. Journet said that contact center jobs in the pipeline involve high-technology services such as data analytics and cyber security.
Taking a contrarian view to the prevailing international sentiment, Journet is of the opinion that offshoring helps the Australian economy and brings in more revenues.
