During the last Ship Management Summit held in Singapore Avior Dirctor Joost Mes was interviewed on his views on the present status and future of the Philippines Crew Management industry. With a predicted annual growth of 7% the Philippines is presently one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The interview conducted by Ship Management International's Felicity Landon looks into the drivers behind the Philippines as a major force in manning and the future ahead. For the full inteview CLICK HERE.

In the interview Joost indicates that the two main drivers behind the growth of the Philippines into one of the major global manning sources are the demographics of the country with a large young professional population and the fact that a career at sea is still a very attractive career compared to shore based opportunities. This combined with the good English proficiency of most Filipino's and the ability to adjust to other cultures and working environments makes that the Philippines still is a preferred source for many Owners and Ship Managers. Competition from the shore based Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry growing with 90,000 jobs annualy has so far not substantially affected this as a career at sea still remains the better prospect in the long run.

The present shipping crisis is hurting especially in the offshore but Joost indicates that one way or another the Philippines seems to weather the storm better than most countries. Probably because in time of recession Owners turn to the Philippines for Crew in an attempt to control costs.

While China has overtaken the Philippines in terms of Seafarers the Philippines still remains numer one of one only takesinto account the Seafarers on the international fleet. However Joost emphasizes that it is not about being the biggest but about being the best and in this aspect the Philippines still has a few challenges to address.

The Philippines is still not pulling its weight as far as the development of senior officers are concerned and making the leap to the higher end segments of the industry such as Ship Management and surveying. Things are definitely moving in that direction but slow.