ILOILO CITY (PNA) — This city can be a “Little Singapore” if only there is not much politicking, said Commissioner Mon Ibrahim of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

The CICT is Government’s primary policy, planning and implementing agency tasked to promote and develop strategic ICT systems and reliable, cost efficient communications facilities in the country. It is also mandated to develop an ICT-enabled workforce in the country and the Philippines as a world-class ICT service provider, providing as much of the population with affordable Internet access.

Ibrahim urged local officials to focus their energies from politics to “something positive for the information and communications industry. Iloilo City could be more than what it is today.”

There has been an emergence of call centers and the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry has been flourishing in Iloilo City. Recently, it has been ranked third in the list of toop 10 next wave cities in the country.

“This (BPO) industry transcends politics,” Ibrahim underlined, even as he made the observation that “doing business in Iloilo City has become easy and red tape is not a big problem unlike in other parts of the country.”

He pointed out that there are investors “with a vision of turning this city into an economic hub,” but that politics could adversely affect the city’s economic potentials.

Then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has been credited for making the island city-state of Singapore one of the most successful economies in Southeast Asia and the world since the 1980s.

Modern Singapore is now an economic powerhouse with one of the world’s highest per capita incomes, high-quality schools, health care and public services.

Ibrahim said Iloilo City could never be far from becoming a “Little Singapore” with its quality labor force that is so vital to industries.

Meanwhile, CICT Secretary Ray Roxas Chua III said the challenge in Iloilo City involves real estate development. A well-developed information technology (IT) park is essential, he said, for investors to come in.

He said the ICT and BPO industries continue to grow in the country as companies not only invest here for telemarketing and transcription but also to hire software engineering and computer programming experts.

“This is something we can be proud of. This means higher income for Filipinos,” said Chua.

Chua said the CICT is also now focusing on developing internet cafés and small and medium enterprises that contribute to the economic growth of the country.

Ibrahim and Chua were in Iloilo City recently along with hundreds of Information Technology (IT) entrepreneurs, potential investors and representatives from Government and the academe for a road show and talent caravan.