The Department of Trade and Industry E-Commerce Office convened stakeholders from different sectors last May 11, 2015 at the Board of Investments building to develop a ten year E-commerce Roadmap.
Supervising Undersecretary for E-Commerce Office Dr. Prudencio M. Reyes, Jr. launched an open forum, which brought together government and private enterprises to provide inputs on the draft E-Commerce Roadmap.
“Simply put, E-Commerce or online business is the current trend. I am confident that this will have a positive impact on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This roadmap will also be useful in coming up with new strategies that will propel us to maximize – and take advantage of – the growth of Philippine e-commerce,” Undersecretary Prudencio M. Reyes Jr. said in his opening remarks.
Dr. Nick Fontanilla of I-Metrics Asia-Pacific Corporation, discussed the Purchase Managers Index (PMI) and its advantages in the business decision-making process. The tool is a monthly economic indicator, which measures purchase managers’ activities in three fronts, namely: Manufacturing, Retail/Wholesale and Services Sectors.
“PMI has a high correlation with GDP, making it a reliable indicator of development, and is trusted globally. It affects the decisions of companies, and a very useful tool for immediate trend spotting. It is present in 32 countries including the Philippines.” Dr. Nick Fontanilla declared.
PMI is one tool used as a growth indicator by DigitalFilipino.com owner Ms. Janette Toral in coming up with the Philippine E-Commerce Intensity Index. Both show the business cycle per month, current trends, ups and downs in purchases as well as online revenues.
The Philippine E-Commerce index is supported by I-Metrics Asia-Pacific Corporation, Philippine Institute of Supply Management and Foundation of the Society of Fellows in Supply Management. It is a monthly tracking and measurement study that determines the extent of e-commerce activities on manufacturing, retail/wholesale and services.
“More and more activities have gone online, from online job communities, people working from home, online purchases and the list goes on. This is a tool that we can use to address the needs especially in the revenue area. E-Commerce is an important benchmark for corporations and executives.” said Ms. Toral.
“If we start creating measures for the Philippines, there is a much bigger impact. We need to touch more sectors.” Ms. Toral added.
According to Ms. Toral, it is also important to invest in the education sector. BS E-Commerce in colleges and Diploma in E-Commerce at TESDA level could help build a pathway in the E-Commerce economic development.
“Competition is bigger. Challenge is bigger. Let us validate these opportunities to come up with our very own E-Commerce roadmap.” Usec Reyes concluded.
There will be a follow through activity for the Business sector on May 18, 2015. Participants are expected to provide inputs on the first draft of the E-Commerce roadmap.
Posted By: Edrillan Pasion
