The Philippines is a viable hub for outsourced engineering and design services given proper marketing and further improvement of local talent pool, according to an executive of software firm Autodesk.
Teddy Tiu, Philippine business development manager for Autodesk, which makes software used by design professionals, noted a growing trend in the outsourcing of engineering and design work and added the country has a good chance of tapping into this opportunity given enough marketing push.
“There is a lot of opportunity for local talents, as we see more foreign companies locating here and tapping the local workforce,” said Tiu.
The Department of Trade and Industry counts engineering and design among five segments under outsourcing although others like call centers and software development are given more attention due to potential market size.
“We need government support probably through trade missions, I’d really like to see this become a national program and be able to market the country as an engineering and design hub,” said Tiu, adding that collaboration between the government and private sector should also focus on capacity building in terms of workforce.
Tiu, emphasizing quality over quantity, added: “Compared to other countries, Filipinos are very creative and we easily learn and adapt to new technology and this is what makes foreign companies want to locate here.”
Autodesk announced a local initiative geared towards training teachers in top universities on some of its software. Tiu added the company is also looking to roll out a program meant for students to purchase software licenses at a discount.