Affordable Quality Human Resource

• Skilled labor force of 29 million
• Literacy rate of 95%
• 3rd largest English speaking nation
• META ranked Philippines No. 4 worldwide in availability of knowledge workers
• 380,000 graduates/year
• Western-patterned educational system
• Strong work ethic, consultative/customer-oriented mind set
• Quality management staff
• Easily trainable
• Low attrition rate
• Lower costs: approximately one-fifth the cost of the US and Europe

Affinity to Western Culture

• World-class English proficiency
• Similar form of government structure
• US GAAP adopted Accounting Systems
• Legal system/contracts similarity
• Same media sources
• Strong familiarity with Western culture yet open and easily adaptable to other cultures

Strategic Location

• Located in the fastest growing outpost of high-tech economy
• Gateway of international shipping and airlines (FEDEX, UPS, etc.)
• Critical entry point to over 500 million ASEAN market
• Accessible by air within four hours from any Asian capital (Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan)

Hospitable Lifestyle: Expatriates’ top choice for quality of life

• Friendly people
• Value-for-money housing
• Modern recreational facilities
• First- rate educational institutions (International schools: British School, German school, Japanese school, Mandarin school, etc,) Source: Far Eastern Economic Review, Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), May 2000.

Expanding Infrastructure

• High quality, low cost bandwidth, expanding domestic network with 6 platforms available: fixed line, cellular, cable TV, over the air TV & radio and VSAT system)
• Redundant international connectivity: fiber optic cable and satellite
• Bandwidth cost declined by 70% over the last 4 years
• Presence of dedicated IT parks with fiscal incentives offer
• Availability of IT-enabled floor area

Strong Government Support

• The Information Technology and E-Commerce Council (ITECC) was formed to oversee, review, update the national promotion strategy for E-Commerce
• President Arroyo chairs this government-private council
• Availability of investment incentives