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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
THE Philippines is eyeing a
bigger share of the global business-process outsourcing (BPO) market
in three years, the Business Processing Association of the
Philippines (BPAP) said.
In a statement, Oscar Sañez,
BPAP chief executive, said that the country’s BPO players are
eyeing to increase their share of the global market to 10 percent by
2010 from the current 3 percent.
Sañez said the global market
will be worth $130 billion by 2010, and it is growing at 25 percent
a year.
He also projected that all
segments of the business would grow especially the higher-value
services such as engineering design, animation, software development
and back-office services.
Manila and Cebu account for a
combined 85 percent to 90 percent of the total BPO industry in the
Philippines, Sañez said, adding Cebu is becoming an important
tier-two location after Manila .
“The way Cebu is set up in
terms of education and pool of knowledge workers, international
airline connections, and lifestyle is very strategic, and its
infrastructure and real-estate market can support more BPO companies
in the future,” he said.
Sañez said that BPAP is also
working to increase public awareness and confidence in the industry,
noting that most Filipinos lack a clear understanding of what is the
business.
“Most of them think that it’s
just a bunch of people with headsets working at night. And that’s
not exactly right because we offer so much more in the way of career
opportunities, outstanding benefits and salary package, and training
and development,” he said.
“BPO is people-driven. We’re
about service, and service is about people. The challenge is getting
more individuals to take on these high-paying jobs, from young
graduates to seasoned professionals in specialized fields,” he
added.
Sañez stressed that to increase
the already substantial level of foreign investment in the industry,
the association is also helping streamline procedures for investors,
and is engaging regulatory authorities in a bid to strengthen
Intellectual Property and data protection laws and regulations.
“There is still some
inefficiency so we recommend procedures at the local level to make
it more convenient for investors and enable them to set up in a
shorter period of time and provide assurance that their IP is
protected,” he said.
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