Headlines, Bylines and Datelines

By Jesus F. Llanto
Researcher, Newsbreak

October 9, 2008–Local government units (LGUs) were urged to develop business-friendly environments to attract investments from the fast-growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

During the 2008 Local Government Code Anniversary Conference held Wednesday in Makati City, local officials were told that they should adopt policies that would make them attractive to BPO investments.

LGUs were also encouraged to follow the measures done by the Bacolod City government in supporting the BPO sector. Bacolod City passed an ordinance endorsing accreditation of Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) sites, and promoted Bacolod as ICT hub by participation in conferences and trade shows and by using website and brochures.

“LGUs sometime have to see themselves as business planner, catalyzer, and enabler instead of being just enforcer,” said Bacolod City councilor and Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology chair Jacelle Batapa-Sigue.

Sunshine industry

Considered one of the sunshine industries—along with mining, agri-business and tourism—that can be tapped by local government units, the BPO industry has employed around 300,000 workers and has estimated revenue of US$ 4.9 billion in 2007.

Dan Reyes, president of Sitel and of the Business Process Association of the Philippines, said that among the advantages of the country in attracting BPO investments are the Filipinos’ English-speaking ability, their cultural affinity to the United States, competitive labor, real estate and telecommunication costs. (abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak)

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• 14 Locations Outside Metro Are BPO-Ready

Photo Credit: www.newsbreak.com.ph

Government and private sector specialists recently told business process outsourcing (BPO) companies to invest in 14 localities outside Metro Manila and Cebu that have the infrastructure and talent pool to meet the industry’s growing demands.

During the 8th Global Sourcing Conference held in Manila that ended Tuesday, the Department of Trade and Industry and the outsourcing advisory firm Tholons identified these growth areas in a just-completed study.

Although the study dubbed the new locations as the “next wave cities,” they include a province and two municipalities. The growth areas are the cities of Bacolod, Baguio, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Clark/Angeles, Davao, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Legaspi, Lipa, and Sta. Rosa; the municipalities of Bacoor in Cavite and of Cainta in Rizal; and the province of Camarines Sur.

There are existing BPO investments in these locations.

The study also listed the localities where there are no BPO investments yet, but are ready to accommodate them. These are the province of Leyte and the cities of Cabanatuan, Dagupan, Subic-Olongapo, General Santos, and Urdaneta.

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Photo: www.flickr.com

Experts in information technology and the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry recently said that the Philippines should offer services other than voice-related ones for which it has become an internationally acknowledged center of excellence.

During the 8th Global Sourcing and Conference in Manila that ended Tuesday, experts said the Philippines should venture into software, animation, and engineering services, among other sectors in the outsourcing and offshoring (O&O) industry.

“It will be interesting if we can move up the value chain other than voice-related services,” said Ray Anthony Roxas Chua III, chair of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology.

Among the BPO sectors in the Philippines, contact centers generate the biggest revenue and employs the largest number of workers. In 2007, contact centers accounted for 73 percent of the industry’s US$4.8-billion revenue. Sixty-six percent of the 300,000 workers in the industry come from contact centers.

However, software, animation, and engineering services have been generating more income and hiring more workers lately. The number of workers working for engineering and software solutions increased by 82 percent in 2007.

“We can capitalize on [this growth] but it will involve training and encouraging students to focus on computer science and engineering to capture the opportunities,” Chua said.