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PRESIDENT Arroyo said Monday the Philippines will bat
for a 40-percent growth in the global offshoring and
outsourcing (O&O) sector this year, to be supported by a
targeted 40-percent increase in trained work force for
the industry.
Speaking
at the 8th e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and
Exhibition at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City,
the President also announced she has allocated a
P350-million training fund for as many as 50,000
prospective employees in the sector.
“For
2008 we have targeted to grow our O&O work force by 40
percent in order to cope with the industry demands, and
also to achieve a 40-percent growth rate in the O&O
sector,” she said.
As part
of efforts to address industry demands, she has
allocated P350 million this year exclusively for
human-resources training for the sector.
“More
than 40,000, maybe 50,000 young professional recruits
will be recipients of training vouchers, and most
probably 40,000 should be offered jobs within two months
of completion [of the training],” she said.
She said
such investment in human capital will ensure the
“competitiveness” of the Philippine work force in the
sector, along with efforts to upgrade the curriculum in
all educational levels.
“The
government and the private-sector work together under
the Business-Process Outsourcing of the Philippines Road
Map to develop talent to support the rising demand for
quality workers in outsourcing and to expand outsourcing
capabilities to new locations across the country,” she
said.
The
President listed the reasons why business-process
outsourcing (BPO) firms should choose the Philippines
over other locations in the region, noting that the BPO
sector now employs 300,000 people, earning it the
reputation of a “premier global destination for these
types of IT-enabled services” next to India.
She
noted that Moody’s Investor Service upgraded the
Philippine credit rating to positive last month, when
the government announced a 7.3-percent growth in gross
domestic product in 2007; and that the National
Outsourcing Association of the United Kingdom named the
Philippines as Offshoring Destination of the Year last
year.
The
President said the International Data Corp. top 10 list
of BPO destinations in the Asia-Pacific region ranked
Manila second only to Bangalore, India; and that the
Philippines is ranked as one of the most attractive
offshoring destinations in the world because of cost
competitiveness and “highly trainable
English-proficient, IT-enabled quality manpower.” |
