|
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Toral: Philippines ranked sixth
By Janette Toral
Digital Filipino
OFF-SHORE SITE. Jherlie Cheng of DigitalFili-pino.com was in Malaysia to
cover the Customer Contact World 2004 regional event.
She found out that the Philippines ranked sixth in ATKearney’s (http://www.atkearney.com) Offshore Local Attraction Index report.
India tops the index by a wide margin, not only for
cost advantages, but also for the depth and breadth of offshoring experiences and people skills.
China ranked second with a similar combination of low-cost and high volume of skills.
Note that China entered the game late. However, its size as a country makes it hard to be ignored.
Malaysia ranks third, with its low cost, good infrastructure, and attractive business environment with very strong government support that gives it potential to be a top choice destination for location of offshore services.
Of prominence is the government’s Multimedia Super Corridor. Jherlie was able to visit the MSC, and the person leading the tour heavily emphasized the country’s very low political risk and the objective to position Malaysia as a hub for services and technology innovation.
Malaysia’s investment promotion efforts resulted in numerous companies locating some of their global and regional operations.
SURPRISE PLACER. Surprisingly, the Czech Republic was in fourth place, offering European clients low costs, good language skills, cultural similarities, competitive infrastructure, and a stable political and economic environment. It is well positioned for companies that have a growing interest in regional or near-shore outsourcing in Europe.
Fifth place went to Singapore. Though not considered a low-cost location, this country remains a favored destination for regional service functions due to its excellent education and language skills, superior infrastructure, and pro-business tax and regulatory environment.
The Philippines ranked sixth, reflecting the continuing attractiveness of emerging Asia as an offshore destination that also provides experienced and talented low-cost labor.
“While much smaller than China and India, the Philippines has widespread
English language skills, a cultural affinity for the US and promising HR (human resource) capabilities. This country has more students enrolled in the tertiary level than most European countries,” said Joon L. Ooi, managing director of A.T. Kearney’s practice in Malaysia.
In fact, the Philippines has more students than any other country in the index except China, India, Russia and Brazil.
Recent estimates indicate that the Philippines graduates about 15,000 technology students annually. In addition, the US military presence in the Philippines during the last century means that much of the population can speak English, which poses fewer problems for US callers than British-influenced accents.
Other countries in the index are Poland, Hungary,
Brazil, Chile, Canada and New Zealand.
All of us have to contribute in beefing up the country’s manpower resources, putting in place attractive incentive programs for small and medium enterprises to use information and communications technology, promoting information technology entrepreneurship, and ensuring government stability for our long-term competitiveness.
(email: janette@digitalfilipino.com.)
(April 15, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
