Top 50 Emerging Global Outsourcing Cities - Tholons

AdvertorialOpportunities and Future Potentialsa bright futureThe foundation that was built in the ’80s has begun to offer rich dividends. The contribution of the IT-BPO sectorto the country’s GDP is growing. The knowledge industry is creating jobs for thousands of Filipinos and hasstimulated growth in many other sectors, leading to the overall development of the country. The buoyancy inthe Philippines IT-BPO sector is slated to continue in the years ahead.By end-2008, the IT-BPO export industry inthe Philippines had contributed US$ 6.061billion in revenues, which accounted for fourpercent of GDP.The number of peopleemployed in this sector was 372,000. Everydirect job in this sector has helped create anestimated 2-3 indirect jobs.There are over 600companies exporting services toorganizations around the world.The industryhas helped in the development of othersectors such as telecomm-unications, realestate, consumer services and retail, food,transportation, training and education,insurance, banking, and industry-supportsectors.In the short term, the Business ProcessingAssociation of the Philippines (BPAP) has settargets of 20 percent growth by end-2009,followed by 26 percent growth in 2010, and27 percent in 2011. Growth targets are both interms of revenue and employment, thoughrevenues will grow faster as the sector shiftsto higher-value services.The Philippines willsustain its position as a preferred offshorelocation for English-language services,particularly in customer service. Companieswill use this leading global position to expandinto non-voice, complex, and higher-valueoutsourced services. In the medium andlong-term, the Philippines will provide awhole range of IT-BPO services. In the next 5-10 years, non-voice services may overtakevoice services in terms of market share.So far, Metro Manila, which comprises 16cities, has been the hub of IT-BPO activitiesin the Philippines. Outside Metro Manila, thesector has significant presence in over 30cities and towns. The government, workingclosely with the private sector, is developingwhat it call the Next Wave Cities as ideallocations for IT-BPO companies outsideMetro Manila. Government and otherstakeholders are working on building thehuman resource and infrastructurecapabilities of these cities.The government has declared IT-BPO apriority industry and has brought inprograms and policies to boost investment,like income-tax holidays and formation ofeconomic zones.The government is helpingindustry build and sustain its keycompetitive advantages, whether it’s inexpanding the telecom network, subsidizingtraining to increase employability of theexisting talent, supporting the marketing ofthe IT-BPO sector, or running investorassistanceprograms.To channelize theefforts, the government has created theCommission of Information andCommunications Technology (CICT) as thelead agency to ensure government supportfor the IT-BPO sector.The future of the sector looks bright.Theindustry hopes to grow in all fields—voicecustomer service, IT, animation,transcription, engineering, and gamedevelopment. Back-office and KPO arelikely to lead in terms of growth rates andwill eventually become as large as thecurrent voice-BPO field—with the potentialto eventually surpass the voice sub-sector.Oscar R. SanezPresident and CEOBusiness Processing Association of the PhilippinesThe umbrella association of the IT-BPO industryin the PhilippinesContact: info@bpap.orgGlobal Services / www.globalservicesmedia.com