Vol. XXII, No. 13 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
DAVAO CITY — The government hopes to attract more call center locators with the accreditation of the NCCC Mall of Davao as an information and communications technology (ICT) park.
The mall will be the second ICT park to be accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), entitling it and its locators to perks.
The first government-accredited ICT park here is the Damosa complex of the Antonio Floirendo Group in this city’s Bajada district.
Other major ICT parks planned here will be under Metro Manila-based property developers like Ayala Land, Inc., J.G. Summit and SM Prime.
The 4,000-square meter NCCC ICT park, which consists of the shopping mall’s fourth floor in the Matina district, houses Western Wats, a research company that started operating last month. It is, however, running at half capacity, or 250 seats in one shift.
The management of the research company earlier said it had invested about P70 million for its Davao operation and was planning to occupy the entire area and increase the number of seats to 500 within the next six months.
NCCC President Ivan Spencer A. Lim earlier welcomed the entry of the research company, saying this would allow the mall to look at further expansion once it operates in full shift.
Jose Antonio T. San Gabriel, president of the research company, which also operates in Cebu, earlier said he expects the company to be busy in preparation for the US elections.
Some of its clients are American politicians who consult partner research firms in the US mainland.
Mr. San Gabriel said the company would continue its recruitment activities as it tries to double operations.
But Teolulo T. Pasawa, chief of Davao’s National Economic Research and Business Assistance Center, earlier said call center companies here have found it difficult to expand in the absence of qualified applicants.
He said business process outsourcing firms operating in the city do not pay as much as companies in Cebu and Manila.
The entry level salary in the city ranges from P8,000 to P11,000, he said, while it can go as high as P15,000 to P18,000 in Metro Manila, excluding benefits such as relocation packages. — Carmelito Q. Francisco
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