PHILIPPINE seafarers are the country’s prime offering for the global maritime industry, a shipping industry official said yesterday.
Speaking at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) seminar, "National Workshop on Services: Current Issues and Future Prospects for Philippines’ Services Sectors in the Asia-Pacific Region and the 21st Century Global Economy,” A. Magsaysay Inc. Chief Executive Officer Doris Teresa Magsaysay-Ho said yesterday that the Philippines’ unique value proposition in the maritime industry is its people.
Ms. Ho -- whose firm has interests in both crewing and shipping, among other sectors -- noted that there are currently 460,000 Filipino seafarers, which is 25% of the global seafarer market. "Filipinos have become the seafarer of choice, filling management positions onboard ships and in ancillary services ashore,” she said.
She attributed the success of Filipino seafarers to hard work, English proficiency, and the Filipino values they bring with them to the workplace.
Ms. Ho added, however: "Successful maritime nations like Germany, Holland, Cyprus and Singapore have a focused government commitment to the industry.”
Citing how the Singapore government turned its country into an international maritime center through investment in port infrastructure, she called for development of the same as well as technology in the Philippines."Modern and efficient logistics infrastructure would allow other service sectors to develop, such as ship and chartering brokerage, ship agency, and freight forwarding and logistics services,” Ms. Ho said."We must start with stern commitment together with the government to develop the industry in order to build a world-class maritime service proposition, ” she said. --
