DAVAO CITY—Owners of many idle lands in downtown Davao and suburbs would get to meet the many call-center operators in Manila and Cebu looking at relocating or expanding their operation here in a forum aimed at bridging the information gap between them.

The property forum would try to link the two sectors together and help ease the difficulty of call centers to find appropriate locations, while persuading more landowners to invest in information and communication technology (ICT) parks, said Andrei Fournier, former chairman of the ICT committee of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry and organizer of the forum.

The forum would be held on February 28 at the Davao City Convention Center and would be attended by 50 landowners and property developers here and at least 10 major call centers based in Manila and Cebu.

“These are owners of the land that have no knowledge whatsoever of the huge benefit of putting up an IT park or building in their properties and who would rather venture into building dormitories or smaller businesses,” Fournier said.

On the other hand, the call-center operators attending the forum were those who have difficulty finding location for their expanded operation or relocation center.

“They don’t know who to talk to and many are discouraged to pursue their plans,” he said.

“Manila and Cebu are already saturated and many call centers are already complaining about the high land rents in these areas,” he said.

Fournier added that it was not already a matter of Davao being in restive Mindanao, “because everybody in the business already knows that Davao is the safest place in the country, with even the lowest crime rate in the country.”

“Everybody knows that already, but we have to move fast now before other cities could overtake our due advantage over them,” he said.

He said that many call centers were actually already waiting for Davao to help them relocate, but some have been diverted elsewhere which have ICT-friendly locations and policies.

“But Davao City continues to be the best and attractive location because of the big human-resource base that has been regularly tapped by many Manila and Cebu call centers.”

He said Manila and Cebu could not supply anymore the personnel needs of these call centers “that’s why they are coming to Davao City to recruit.”

“Davao provides them with their needs for call-center agents and thus, many are looking at putting their operations here,” he said.

ICT operators have repeatedly called on the city to encourage more investments in IT parks to bring in sooner the call centers interested to relocate here, and Fournier said that the call-center operators have been waiting as early as two years ago.

The forum would also be attended by Secretary Roxas Chua of the Commission on ICT, who, Fournier said, would discuss the status of the call centers and its unmet but continuing demands for more areas to host these centers outside of Manila and Cebu.

Fournier said that he told a forum this week in Manila that Davao City alone graduates 10,000 students every year, “with a lot of them going elsewhere because there are just not much job opportunities around.”

“You add the graduates from General Santos City, Cotabato City and the other provinces nearby and you can just imagine the untapped human resources here,” he said.  “That’s what still attract these call centers to put up their operations here.”

“Let us just stop thinking that the call centers is a here now-gone tomorrow operation. It is here to stay and it is expanding and it has a very huge potential to help keep our graduates at home than going abroad,” he said.

He said that studies would show that for every call-center agent hired, “he brings in about P11,000 worth of income for the other services and businesses around, including convenience or the 7/11 stores,  entertainment joints, taxi and other transport operation.”

“This should already convince our officials and other businessmen to rethink about encouraging more vibrant ICT operations here,” he said.

He disclosed that about four of the landowners invited have already decided to put ICT parks in their properties after learning the potential of the industry.  

Don’t be alarmed by troop movements

GEN. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Armed Forces chief of staff, on Thursday advised the public not to be alarmed by troop movements in Metro Manila as the military has been called to augment the police in maintaining peace during the planned protest action on Monday in Metro Manila to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the first people power revolt.

THE Armed Forces is closely following the developments in the political front but assured that it will never break away from the duly constituted government.

WHILE Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. enjoys vast support from political and religious groups and civil society,

ALTHOUGH the call-center attrition rate is 5 percent to 10 percent and lower than its neighboring-outsourcing countries, business-process outsourcing (BPO) executives are determined to reduce it by addressing its deep-rooted causes through leadership training.

DAVAO CITY—Owners of many idle lands in downtown Davao and suburbs would get to meet the many call-center operators in Manila and Cebu looking at relocating or expanding their operation here in a forum aimed at bridging the information gap between them.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) acknowledged there is not much it can do about foreign banks selling dollar-denominated insurance policies to residents and having the transaction consummated abroad.

THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has further eased rules on foreign tourists by allowing them to immediately avail themselves of an extended length of stay upon arrival, it was learned Thursday.