Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Gensan sets eye on BPO industry
LOCAL leaders and trade officials are aspiring to transform General Santos City as an alternative hub for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) outside Metro Manila.
Dorecita Delima, assistant regional director of the Department of Trade in Industry in Central Mindanao, said the BPO industry is expected to benefit the various entrepreneurs in the city known for its established tuna industry.
"To advance this thrust, we are going to hold a BPO forum as one of the major events of the upcoming e-Business week here," she said.
Now on its third year, the e-Business week is observed to promote business opportunities and the development of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, Delima added.
Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr. said the city's advantage in luring BPO players are its "quality human resources, the low cost of doing business and the presence of needed support systems such as telecommunication, accommodation and infrastructure facilities.
"The city also offers incentives for all ICT investors. There are already transcription companies and independent software vendors that are operating in the city," he said.
Delima said the BPO industry is moving towards untapped potentials in the regions to address the growing demand for human capital and reliable infrastructure, which the city "is capable of providing."
Delima explained that Business Process Outsourcing is business processes or services performed within the Philippines and delivered through communication networks, including the Internet.
BPO covers areas such as call centers, financial transaction processing, human resources management and other specialized services such as animation, architectural and engineering design and data transcription, she added.
Recent trends have revealed that worldwide expenditures on outsourced services shows continued robust growth.
Citing the study of Plunkett Research Ltd., Delima noted that outsourcing will be an approximately $400 billion global industry in 2006.
The biggest segment of outsourcing is logistics, sourcing and distribution services sector, followed by information technology services, which covers the production of software and the management of computer centers.
Another major section is BPO, which is also called as IT-enabled Services (ITES) or e-Services, in the Philippine context, the trade official said.
Delima said they have invited to the BPO forum set on October 30 IT companies and existing firms from across Central Mindanao and various professionals that include accountants, engineers and teachers, among others.
