The governments of India and the Philippines should strengthen partnerships in terms of information technology and business process management and the healthcare sector.

“Healthcare and pharmaceuticals, especially after the pandemic, have become very important. There’s a great priority on trying to make pharmaceuticals more affordable and more accessible to people,” according to India’s Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran during Daily Tribune’s digital morning show Gising Na! on Monday.

He said an Indian health tech startup company had recently launched in the Philippines using artificial intelligence for the early detection of cancer in a non-invasive way, bringing down the cost for Filipino patients to a 10th of its normal price.

“We are having this sort of focus on bringing in new technology-driven applications that can help reduce the burden of people in the healthcare sector,” he said.

India is known for its pharmaceutical expertise while the Philippines is the best location for business process outsourcing or BPO.

.For IT-BPO, he said the industry in both countries has sustained double-digit growth even during the contagion.

Train the youth

“But the sector is changing. Younger people need to be trained better to be able to access the sector. I think this is one of the areas we can work on together. Indian companies have a very big presence in the IT-BPO sector in the Philippines and we have a very strong shared partnership in this sector,” he said.

Kumaran said other areas of collaboration are in infrastructure such as airports, railways, and economic space as India is the fifth largest economy in the world.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry plays a prominent role in the global arena. India ranks 3rd worldwide for output and 14th in sales value.

The nation is the largest provider of generic medicines globally, occupying a 20 percent share in global supply by volume, and is the leading vaccine manufacturer globally.

India also has the highest number of US-Food and Drug Administration-compliant pharma plants outside of the United States and is home to more than 3,000 pharma companies with a strong network of over 10,500 manufacturing facilities as well as a highly-skilled resource pool.

Good relations

Ambassador Kumaran said the Philippines and India have a very long tradition of friendship, even though both countries have dynamic economies nowadays.

For IT-BPO, he said the industry in both countries has sustained double-digit growth even during the contagion.

“I think we ascertain our place in the global order. So, the outlook for the Philippines and India relationship is extremely positive in different sectors — politically, defense and security, and economic and trade partnership. But most important is the relationship between our people,” he said.

The two countries, he said, have become the two fastest economies in the world, as the number of young people or demographics are the most among the highest globally.

India has somehow lost significant outsourcing ground to the Philippines over the last few years.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India reported a 70 percent loss in outsourcing market share with call centers and related services, with the Los Angeles Times reporting Philippines BPO Industry revenue at a staggered $25 billion, equal to 10 percent of the country’s economy, based on the report of outsourced. ph.

In its report, the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines said amid prevailing challenges on the economic, political, and social fronts, the country’s IT-BPM sector continues to reap in 2022, hitting $32.5 billion in terms of revenues.

The report also stated that the number of full-time employees in the Philippines grew 8.4 percent or by 121,000 in 2022, bringing the industry’s total headcount to 1.57 million, and further recorded a growth of 10.3 percent in revenues to reach $32.5 billion in 2022.