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THE
business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry, now
considered the flagship sector of the economy, is not
bothered by the “political noise” from allegations of
corruption tainting government projects like the
National Broadband Network (NBN).
Some
global industry players have even expressed confidence
their business will continue to grow this year. “It is
all a matter of managing risks and (the political noise)
is definitely not a problem,” said Chris Sullivan,
managing director of Deutsche Knowledge Services.
Sullivan
cited his company’s gains in the last three years,
including increased profitability by 20 percent.
In a
statement, the Trade department noted that executives of
BPO firms who attended the 8th e-Services Global
Outsourcing Conference in Manila even “heaped praises”
on the Arroyo government.
e-Services is organized by the Department of Trade and
Industry through the Center for International Trade
Expositions and Missions together with the Board of
Investments and the Business Processing Association of
the Philippines.
The
Trade department said business sales from the event are
expected to reach $40 million as over 1,000 executives
and investors visited the event this year.
The
two-day conference that had the theme “Outsourcing
Centers of Excellence” brought together suppliers and
buyers in the industry and highlighted the Philippines’
openness to looking at the outsourcing industry from a
global perspective.
Cited as
among the country’s advantages were the widespread use
of the English language, promising human-resource
capabilities, availability of vendors, IT infrastructure
and office-space availability.
The
challenge that lies ahead for the Philippines is in
speeding up the pace in growth and recruitment of people
and planning for physical and facilities expansion.
“Without
these, the Philippine target growth of 40 percent [in
the industry] by 2010 will remain a distant dream,”
said the trade department. |
