Philippines BPO Earned $5B in '07

The revenue of the Philippines BPO (business process outsourcing) in 2007 posted at $5 billion, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) disclosed.

The annual report from DTI indicates that the revenue of the country's outsourcing industry grew from $3.5 billion in 2006. Currently, the country's global leading in the outsourcing employs a total of 320,000 workers, which is higher compared in 2006 with a total of 235,000 employees.

This growth is inline with the campaign of the Philippine Government to boost this industry not only locally but its target among the international key investors. The Philippines is one of the frontline choices in terms of BPO, especially the call center which is the voiced account scheme.

Other than call center, the Philippines is also promoting its competency in medical transcription, IT (information technology), animation, among others. Earlier, positive reports from international business leaders in Davos, Switzerland lauded the country's huge growth in the outsourcing in the recent World Economic Forum.

Big and small companies are operating in the Philippines because of its cost-effective services and investor-friendly atmosphere. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in her previous statements posted at the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), thanked the investors for lifting the country's economic activity. She added that the employment opportunities in the outsourcing industry are a way of supporting her campaign to have a "Strong Republic" nation.

Competition

Because competition is very high in the BPO, several countries in the Southeast Asia, European, and the United States are also boosting this industry to remain on the top.

The country today is no doubt to gain success in maintaining the industry alive. The serious thing to consider is to stay above because other countries are seriously promoting their BPO industry not only to gain revenues but also to be a global leader.

Oscar Sanez, head of the Business Process Association of the Philippines disclosed during Thursday's e-Services briefing that the country remains to be competitive.

Mr. Sanez said the voiced-based (call center) still growing in the country because of the English fluency of every Filipino. However, Mr. Sanez urged BPO firms to also strengthen the country's weaknesses in the accounting, finance, engineering design and IT services.

Meanwhile, DTI said that Filipino graduates with high knowledge on liberal arts, which is the studies focusing on general knowledge and intellectual skills, gives favorable advantage to the country as the preferred outsourcing destination rather than other offshore destinations like India.

DTI added that the higher fluency in English and with higher orientation in the customer services are among of the reasons why potential investors like the country.

Meanwhile, Richard Mills, an expert on outsourcing in the Asia Pacific disclosed that India is known to be a top producer of technical knowledge while the Philippines is focusing more on liberal arts.

Mr. Mills disclosed that locators around the world is putting their companies in the country such as animation, medical services, insurance processes, legal services, publishing and content enhancement. Mr. Mills is one of speakers during the Business Venture Track of e-Services Philippines Outsourcing Conference and Exhibition attended by BPO executives, businessmen, local and national politicians.

Every year, the country's graduates reached at 385,000 with strong background in the English language. The country is also producing more than 100,000 accountants and business-related college graduates every year.

To prove the best of the Filipino accountants, the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) acknowledged the Filipinos skills in accounting. This is because Filipino accountants who passed the yearly Certified Public Accounting (CPA) exam are familiar with GAAP and International Accounting Standards (IAS) in terms of financial reporting.

The Philippines outsourcing will continue to deliver finest services to its clients worldwide and expected to grow to 12.4 billion dollars with 303,000 job opportunities in the next two years.

Roberto L. Bacasong, 27, works as Customer Interaction Associate in a biggest contact center in the Philippines.