Vol. XXII, No. 63 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
CEBU CITY — More big-ticket business process outsourcing (BPO) investments are expected to locate in Cebu following the recent release of investment advisory firm Tholons’ list of top global outsourcing destinations.
Cebu, which placed fourth last year after three cities from India, moved to the top position this year to beat the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Beijing, which placed second and third, respectively. This feat was achieved just seven years after local officials launched the bid for Cebu to become an information technology (IT) hub.
"Despite all the problems you hear about our capability to support the BPO sector, we’re still number one. We are proud of this," said Joel Mari S. Yu, managing director of the Cebu Investment Promotions Center (CIPC). Mr. Yu, a former Trade assistant secretary and Central Visayas regional director who has spearheaded moves to attract foreign direct investors to Cebu since 2000, was also instrumental in charting Cebu’s transformation into an IT hub.
Metro Cebu now hosts 22 call centers employing over 20,000 employees. Some of the big names are Accenture, ACS, Convergys, eTelecare, Teletech, People-Support and Wipro. A total of 36 other BPOs, focusing on the non-voice business, also operate here. Non-voice operations refer to engineering design, content development, graphics/animation, software development, medical transcription,
Tata Communications, India’s largest telecommunication company, has reportedly decided to locate in Cebu, Mr. Yu said. Representatives of HCL Enterprise, another big technology company from India, were here about a month ago to conduct due diligence. Hewlett Packard is also looking at Cebu, alongside Makati and Davao, as possible sites for its planned logistics hub. Mr. Yu added.
He was confident that Cebu would be able to meet the increasing manpower and office space requirements of the BPO sector. By next year, Mr. Yu said the call center industry would employ up to 50,000 people.
"We’re very confident that we will have the people to support these investors. We graduate 23,000 college students a year. There’s very little choice for these graduates but to be in the IT industry," Mr. Yu said.
Around a fifth of these graduates hold engineering and computer-related degrees, he said.
More IT buildings, such as the Robinland Business Center and Qimonda IT Center, are being constructed in Cebu. To date, there are 25 IT parks and buildings in Cebu, according to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
The Tholons list of the top 50 emerging global outsourcing cities was drawn up based on six general categories, namely, scale and quality of workforce (including education), "business catalysts," costs, infrastructure availability, risk profile, and quality of life. Other cities in the top 10 were Ho Chi Minh, Krakow, Kolkata, Cairo, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Shenzhen.
Three other Philippine cities made it to the list this year. Pasig, which ranked 23rd last year, moved up to 15th place while new entrants Quezon and Mandaluyong ranked 21st and 45th, respectively.
Makati, meanwhile, joined seven other destinations that are considered full-fledged global outsourcing destinations. The seven others are the Indian cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune as well as Dublin, Ireland. — Marites S. Villamor
