PH ICT firms generate leads in CommunicAsia

Local information and communications technology companies have generated interests, which may lead to actual deals, from a number of companies visiting CommunicAsia2011, the biggest ICT show in the region, held in Singapore.

According to Rissa Quiogue Golloso, head of corporate below-the-line marketing communications services at PLDT Alpha Enterprise, some CommunicAsia2011 visitors had approached the Philippine Pavilion on the exhibition floor to inquire about the services that the local firms had to offer.

Most of the inquiries were directed at participating software development companies Advanced World Systems Inc., BC Net Inc., Exist Global, iWave Inc., and Sysnet Integrators Inc.

Other participants from the Philippines include the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Globe Telecom Inc., and Bayan Telecommunications Inc.

Quiogue-Golloso said the participation of PLDT, Globe and Bayan in the event had more to do with providing support for the country’s ICT industry than with generating new business.

“In CommunicAsia, telcos are usually approached by companies who are offering various services. They’re the ones selling to us, not the other way around,” she explained in an interview in Singapore.

Some companies, however, had also inquired about possible deals with PLDT, with one even seeking out the Philippine Pavilion just to get in touch with the country’s largest telco.

Apart from the eight telcos and software developers, local organizations that participated in CommunicAsia2011 included the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, and Philippine Software Industry Association.

Quiogue-Golloso said CICT threw support behind the local ICT firms by giving some free exhibition space, which the Philippine government received from the Singapore government, to the eight Filipino exhibitors. CICT’s space was included in the space occupied by the entire Philippine Pavilion.

CICT chief Ivan John Uy and commissioner Monchito Ibrahim were also present to provide their support to the local firms.