Overseas projects and engineering service outsourcing can be the future drivers of the Philippine construction industry, said industry experts from the government and private sector.
Construction industry players recently discussed the future of construction after the Covid-19 pandemic in the webinar “Seizing Construction Opportunities under the New Normal” organized by the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) and the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines’ and Philippine Overseas Construction Board (POCB).
DTI Usec. for Trade Promotions Abdulgani M. Macatoman said construction services sector is one of the major revenue-generating sectors of the country whether in local or foreign business dealings.
“Despite a major decrease in the number of PH construction services exporters from over a hundred in the 1980s to 37 at present, the overseas construction industry still contributed its share to the economy: a total amount of $116.08 million,” he said.
Norman Macapagal, executive vice president of EEI Corporation and president of EEI Limited, Inc. Construction said the industry is set to rebound after the Covid-19 pandemic and while waiting for this, he said business owners should prepare by accelerating their business transformation and exploring opportunities to work on foreign projects.
“In our company, we have been talking about changing our procedures, because they are too long, with too many signatures involved. When the pandemic came in and we were on lockdown, the procedures that we were discussing for over a year were suddenly simplified. We were forced to look at new construction techniques and methods because of the need to survive,” said Macapagal.
EEI has been doing overseas construction projects since the ‘70s. For those who want to try and bid for foreign projects, he suggests studying taxation and labor regulation of the foreign country as well as the regulations of the POCB. Firms, he said, can then either set up a temporary branch, a permanent branch or get a local partner to begin operations.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ernesto de Castro, President of Esca Inc. and Esca International Inc., sees engineering service outsourcing as a high-value service that can be the Philippines’ next BPO.
In 2016, ESO in the Philippines is valued at $250M or one percent of the country’s total outsourcing sector and 0.5 percent of all ESO in the world. – Press release
May 9, 2024
