In this BPO Corner:
Confab to Highlight Opportunities in Biz Process Outsourcing

NOT only will there be sessions about the potentials and the actual nuts and bolts of how to venture into the call center industry and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), an inside look at some of today's top players in action will provide participants an experience to look forward to in this year's 31st Philippine Business Conference (PBC) on October 11 to 13 at the Manila Hotel.

Off-site tours after a plenary discussion on BPO and call centers will take interested participants to Teletech, a US$1 billion company from India, and to SPI Technologies for outsourcing of accounting, medical transcription, software design and litigation.

With billings of US$490 million last year, call centers will bill US$1 billion this year, according to Mitchelle Locsin, president of the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPA/P). This means that in one year, the growth of the BPO industry outstrips our exports of entire traditional industries. From less than US$150 million revenues in 2000, the whole BPO industry may have close to US$2 billion in revenue this year including operations in accounting, insurance processing, telemarketing, legal and medical transcription, animation, etc.

Records from the trade department shows that as of June 1, 2005, BPO employs 69,000 in the Customer Care department, 25,000 jobs given in legal transcription, back office and related fields, 5,000 jobs in medical transcription, 5,000 jobs in animation and 28,000 employed in software development or a total of 132,000.

At the end of 2004, there were only approximately 91,000 jobs in those fields. The promotion of BPO is one of the most successful industry promotions of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and was a special baby of Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas III during his tenure as trade secretary.

This year's PBC chairman, George Siy, of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said as more investors put money into BPO, more jobs and related opportunities will follow suit thus building more support services and infrastructure that itself becomes a competitive edge for the country. He expressed confidence in the growth and profitability of, and the Philippines's competitiveness, in the field as he encouraged more foreign and local investments in the information and communications technology industry.

Siy also said not only will the industry develop the skills of the young entrants to the labor force, if properly strategized and nurtured, it will lead the way for the country to enter new levels of global competitiveness and inspiration that can bring back the confidence of the Filipino. This is also in a field less prone to rent-seeking, politically-created problems.

The PBC is the biggest annual gathering of the business sector sponsored by the PCCI. The subjects of call centers and BPO will be part of the first day of conference. Other major growth areas expected to grow to multi-billion dollar industries are health and retirement, tourism, mining and franchising.

For more information, go to www.philippinechamber.com/pbce.aspx or call PCCI at (632) 844-5713. (PR)

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Originally published in the Cebu Sun Star, September 10, 2005