THE United States Agency for International Development (USAid)-funded Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) stakeholders are holding Wednesday the First Zamboanga BPO Roadshow in Zamboanga City.

Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc. (ZCCCFI) information officer Pedro Rufo Soliven said the BPO roadshow will be held in coordination with the Regional Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Committee (RITECC), Regional Development Council (RDC)-Western Mindanao and the ZCCCIFI.

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The First BPO roadshow aims to provide a new investment opportunity for Zamboanga City, Soliven said.

He said BPO experts will present data to prospective investors why this information technology (IT) venture is successful in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Manila and Subic. They will also explain the rationale why such business venture is ideal for Zamboanga City, he added.

Soliven said the BPO experts will also explain how much capital outlay is required, including facts about the Return of Investment (ROI).

He noted that BPO is considered one of the largest industries in the country today and now employs more than half a million people.

He said the BPO industry had been expanding rapidly around the country because of the great demand of BPO services worldwide and is the fastest growing industry that supports local economies.

BPO has been popularly identified with “call centers” or Voice BPO though it is the umbrella term used to describe a form of service where a third party is contracted to do a job, according to Soliven.

Soliven said there is also the so-called Non-Voice BPO that requires less capital but has a high ROI.

He said the Non-Voice BPO renders services, such as animation, architecture, medical transcription, information technology and law-related work, to name just a few.

He said BPO is also engaged in website and system development, domain name registration and web hosting, desktop publishing, graphic design, logo design, webmercials, video streaming, music and audio development, web banner design and much more.

He said these BPO services usually fall under the BPO sub-branches known as knowledge process outsourcing and legal outsourcing, noting that several owners of internet cafes have shifted gear to BPO services to boost their income. (Bong Garcia)