This year’s 8th e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition is drumbeating the emergence of local regional hubs or "next-wave cities" as alternative sites to established but overly saturated areas like Metro Manila and Cebu.
The confab, to be held February 11 to 12 at the SMX Convention Center in Roxas Pasay City, is organized annually by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) — the DTI agency in charge of export promotion — in cooperation with the Bureau of Investments (BoI) and the Regional Operations Group (ROG) of the DTI.
Felicitas Agoncillo-Reyes, DTI assistant secretary and CITEM executive director, said the event would serve as a venue for BPO firms to examine the current shift among service providers of locating to offshoring hubs outside the business districts of Metro Manila, and other tier-one cities.
"We believe that this geographical expansion is an important development, and presents great opportunity to tier-two BPO hubs," Agoncillo-Reyes said in a statement issued to the media.
According to the government, the BPO industry employs more than 300,000 Filipinos and generated approximately billion in revenues last year, a 34-percent increase over 2006. The industry is expected to grow another 30 percent this year, to $ 7 billion.
The trade department, through Undersecretary Carissa Cruz-Evangelista, who heads the DTI Regional Operations Group, has identified a list a "next wave cities" that cans serve as outsourcing destinations.
Among these cities, 150 have confirmed their participation in the event: Urdaneta and Dagupan Cities, Pangasinan; Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority; Poro Point, San Fernando City, La Union; Berthaphil Inc.’s developments in Clark Field, Pampanga; Cagayan De Oro City, Misamis Oriental; Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Legazpi City, Albay; Santa Rosa, Laguna; Iloilo City; Davao City; Cainta City, Rizal; Balanga City, Bataan; Batangas City; and the Province of Leyte.
A "next wave cities" forum will also be held on February 12. It will serve as a venue for the cities to present their outsourcing and offshoring investment capabilities, along with their available human resources, competitive cost, strength and quality of infrastructure, and business environment, and risk management in their respective localities.
e-Services organizers said key industry associations are supporting the conference. They include the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), the Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI), the Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines Inc. (MTIAPI), and the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA). — Melvin G. Calimag
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