Philippine Ambassador Virginia H. Benavidez and Vice Consul Glenn Joseph Obach, together with Philippine Honorary Consul General Paulo Garcia, attended the Philippines-New Zealand Business Seminar and Networking between the 3rd Philippine ICT Partnership Opportunity Mission delegation and representatives of New Zealand IT/Software companies on 24 May 2013 in Auckland. Hosted by the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), the event was an occasion for the members of both delegations to provide corresponding company introductions and presentations, networking, and one-on-one meetings between the Philippine and New Zealand participants.

The Philippine delegation was composed of the following: Mr. Jose Mari P. Mercado, President and CEO, Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and Head of Delegation; Ms. Janis Bauto, Country and Brand Marketing Manager, IBPAP; Ms. Shelly Kero, Chief Operations Officer, Job and Esther Technologies; Ms. Rhanelyn Yasis, Account Manager, Job and Esther Technologies; Ms. Maria Cristina G. Coronel, President, Pointwest Technologies Corp. and Board Director of Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA); Ms. Arlene Canlas, BA/SQA Practice Manager, Pointwest Technologies Corp.; Mr. Kenneth Chua, Partner and Head, Employment Practice Group of Quisumbing Torres Law Offices; Ms. Maria Christina Acaban, Partner, Corporate Commercial Practice Group of Quisumbing Torres Law Offices; and Mr. Gerry Topacio, Managing Director, Jebsen & Jessen Communications (Phils.), Inc.

The New Zealand side was represented by Mr. Dean Prebble, ICT Sector Manager, NZTE; Ms. Maricon Popanes-Lim, Business Development Manager, NZTE; Mr. John Ferguson, Customer Manager, NZTE; Ms. Erika Kuoch, Customer Manager, NZTE; Mr. Charles Haddrell, Customer Manager, NZTE; Ms. Rachael McGuckian, Customer Manager, NZTE; and Mr. Prashant Kumar, International Market Manager (East Asia), NZTE. Representing the New Zealand private sector were the following: Mr. Andreas Kazamias, Chief Executive Officer, GFG Group; Mr. Mark Capill, Regional Manager, Orion Health; Mr. Patricio Pagani, Director, Information Tools Limited; Mr. Aaron Judson, ICT Sector Innovation Manager, UniServices; Mr. Terry Paddy, Managing Director, Cortexo; and Mr. Paul Yeo, IT Manager and ASEAN representative from Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) Northland.

In addressing the audience, Ambassador Benavidez thanked NZTE for hosting the 3rd Philippine ICT Partnership Opportunity Mission. She said the event, which highlighted ICT as among the bright prospects for partnership between Philippines and New Zealand, is an excellent follow-up to the State Visit of President Benigno S. Aquino III to New Zealand last October and builds on the success of the previous two ICT Missions. Ambassador Benavidez also said that more and more New Zealanders are showing interest at the ICT and Business Process industries in the Philippines as seen at the flag counter of the IBPAP official website, where statistics of the different countries that have visited the website are displayed. To date, there are 339 views from New Zealand. She mentioned that 10 out of 42 New Zealand companies in the Philippines are in the ICT sector. Ambassador Benavidez reiterated the synergy between the Philippines and New Zealand, and encouraged the participants to connect and traverse the ICT superhighway together to expand cooperation in the ICT and other sectors.

Mr. Dean Prebble of NZTE, who welcomed the participants to the Business Seminar and Networking, gave an overview of the New Zealand ICT Industry then introduced the speakers accordingly. The New Zealand delegation members briefed the participants about their respective companies. Mr. Andreas Kazamias discussed about the GFG Group, an electronic payments solutions and services company. Orion Health’s Mr. Mark Capill presented about his company as a provider of clinical workflow and integration technology for the healthcare sector. Mr. Patricio Pagani briefed the group about Information Tools Limited, a global supplier of market research database services and software tools. ICT Sector Innovation Manager of UniServices, Mr. Aaron Judson, discussed about UniServices, the largest research and development company of its kind in Australasia, and the innovation broker between organizations and the University of Auckland. Mr. Terry Paddy provided information on Cortexo as a specialist provider of energy monitoring solutions. IT Manager and ASEAN representative from Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) Northland, Mr. Paul Yeo, explained that his organization links enterprises of all types and sizes for opportunities to learn and grow through business connections. According to Mr. Yeo, several members of his group are small enterprises looking for IT solutions.

The Philippine team started with the presentation of Mr. Jose Mari Mercado on behalf of IBPAP. Giving an overview of the Philippine IT and Business Process industry, he told the participants that IBPAP consists of five associations - the Animation Council of the Philippines, Contact Center Association of the Philippines, Game Developers Association of the Philippines, Healthcare Information Management Outsourcing Association of the Philippines, and Philippine Software Industry Association. All these associations work together under the umbrella of IBPAP in promoting the IT/BPM industry. Mr. Mercado cited five advantages that the Philippines offers to investors in the IT/BPM industry: a scalable and educated talent pool, cost competitiveness, excellent infrastructure, government support and public-private partnerships (PPP) and a proven track record. The other Philippine participants correspondingly discussed about their companies. Ms. Shelly Kero, Chief Operations Officer of Job and Esther Technologies, introduced her company as an expert and a global leader in software development that requires the use and application of different computing platforms, and carries products that can translate applications between the different kinds of devices. Ms. Arlene Canlas, BA/SQA Practice Manager of Pointwest Technologies Corp., gave an overview of her company, as the top 100% Filipino-owned IT-BPO company in the Philippines providing services to Fortune Magazine’s list of the worlds’ most admired companies, such as Delta Airlines. Mr. Kenneth Chua, Partner and Head, Employment Practice Group of Quisumbing Torres Law Offices briefed the group about his company as the first member firm of Baker & McKenzie in the Asia Pacific. Quisumbing Torres’ lawyers are experienced industry advisers and have played a proactive role in the growth of the Philippines’ priority business segments. Mr. Gerry Topacio, Managing Director of Jebsen & Jessen Communications (Phils.), Inc., introduced his company as a team of consultants, helping clients achieve greater operational clarity.

In the evening, the Philippine and New Zealand delegations enjoyed a cocktail gathering at the Sky Tower, SKYCITY. Chief Financial Officer of SKYCITY Auckland, Mr. James Burrell, welcomed all the guests that included Ambassador Benavidez, Philippine Honorary Consul General Paulo Garcia and Honorary Vice Consul Virginia Russell. NZTE was represented by Mr. John Ferguson and Ms. Maricon Popanes-Lim. The New Zealand-Philippines Business Council (NZPBC) was also represented at the gathering by Mr. Lito Banal, Mr. Rene Pascual, Mr. Nick Salas, and Mr. Dan Dicnadice. Also present at the event was Mr. Paul Gestro of the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ).