Globe Telecom President
& CEO Ernest Cu said the Philippine telecommunications provider is
exploring the possibility of expanding its operations within the ASEAN region
to complement relatively strong economic growth within the region.
“We will look for white
space within Asean and Asia on where to leverage the skills we’ve developed
overtime and we do think we’ve developed a decent telco business here in the
Philippines. We have a great team and we’re thinking of ways to leverage that
further in emerging economies,” Cu said in a video shown at the recent APEC CEO
Summit in Beijing, China. The APEC CEO
Summit is a premier business event, attended by thousands of economic and
business leaders from around the region.
Cu specifically cited
Myanmar as a potential expansion area. “There’s already a telco player in
Myanmar but there are other areas we could get involved in, like financial services
and mobile advertising and these areas have potential,” he said.
As a telco provider, Globe
has taken the direction of providing products and services most relevant to
customers amid fast-paced evolution of digital technologies. “We’ve always
taken the position that if consumer habits are changing, then we have to change
along with it and deliver what’s relevant to them. The real prize would be
getting all of these individuals to access the internet through their mobile
phones and alternatives offered by different mobile apps become more
commonplace and become the main mode of communication,” said Cu.
Cu earlier said Globe is
considering the possibility of offering its mobile-based banking service to
other Southeast Asian markets once the ASEAN integration is in place. Globe
operates GCash, the mobile money service of its subsidiary G-Xchange Inc. It
also operates BanKO, a mobile-based, microfinance-focused savings bank, along
with Bank of the Philippine Islands and Ayala Corp.
By 2015, the ASEAN Economic
Community sets in motion the creation of single market and production base for
the 10-nation bloc fostering free flow of goods, services, skilled labor,
investments and capital. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Cu’s vision of expanding
Globe Telecom’s operations in the Asean region mirrors goals expressed by other
CEOs surveyed by PwC International Survey Unit. The APEC CEO Survey was
conducted between June and August 2014 covering 635 CEOs and industry leaders
across 39 countries with operations in APEC economies.
Based on the survey, 57%
of the CEO respondents said they are either building or expanding facilities in
APEC economies in the next 3 to 5 years. The survey found that 67% of
executives plan to increase investment in the APEC region over the next 12
months. Their plans are spread over each of the 21 APEC member economies with
China, the US, Indonesia, Hong Kong-China and Singapore as the most popular
destinations for investment.
The Philippines will be
hosting the APEC Summit next year. An
intergovernmental grouping currently composed of 21 member economies, APEC
focuses on three key areas namely trade and investment liberalization, business
facilitation and economic and technical cooperation.
