Philippines – the Frontline Digital Economy in Asia Pacific

When the world’s largest search company sets up and expands an office in a country, you know what it means: that nation plays an important role in the digital world. As Julian Persaud, ex-Google Managing Director for Southeast Asia, said in a press statement, “The Philippines is a key country in Southeast Asia in terms of its digital economy and tech-savvy population.” Like Google, another international firm, Payoneer, sees a huge potential in the Philippines as a frontline digital economy in Asia.

Sifting through various research studies and reports, investors are optimistic that the Philippines will maintain its economic competitive edge. Here are some areas where the country is performing better than its Asian counterparts.

 1. It’s Asia Pacific’s fastest-growing advertising market

A 2016 study by IHS Markit, a London-based research company, looked at ad performance in ten countries (Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and the Philippines) in the Asia Pacific region. The report has revealed the Philippines as the strongest performer with an ad revenue growth of 14 percent in 2016. Among the nation’s major growth drivers of advertising, earnings are increased consumerism, rising middle class, mobile device ownership, and early adoption of technology by a young, vibrant population.

2. It remains to be the most attractive outsourcing destination

The Philippines was named the World’s Call Center Capital in 2018, a testament that Filipinos are great at providing superior customer service, especially to western English-speaking countries. Producing around 500,000 college graduates yearly, the Philippines has a young, well-educated workforce with good spoken English language skills. Coupled with the fact that the cost of living is also relatively cheap ($800 to $1000 a month), the country is among the most desirable outsourcing destinations in Asia. The fast-growing BPO industry in the Philippines on track to reach a total income of US$ 40 to US$55 billion by 2020.

3. It has a rapidly growing gig economy

Since Payoneer, a New York-based financial service company, launched its office in Manila in 2016, it has seen a massive growth of the freelance economy in the Philippines (about 35% in 2019). PayPal also supports this data, stating that about two percent of or 1.5 million Filipinos participate in the gig economy, 84 percent of them are on freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Freelancer. Flexible working conditions and higher earnings are attracting more Filipino professionals to join the gig economy. Trending online jobs include virtual assistance, digital marketing, programming, web content management, and more.

Whether you are looking to market to a growing middle class or hoping to cut costs while employing better talents, the Philippines is a country you should pay attention to.