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Home ? Editorial ? Information Technology Parks to boost Philippine Business Process Outsourcing industry

Manila, Philippines ? INFORMATION Technology (IT) Parks are rising in the provinces and in Metro Manila to provide the infrastructure and connectivity needed to boost the robust growth of the country?s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. The new IT Parks outside Metro Manila are in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Iloilo, Bi?an, Tarlac, Baguio, Cabanatuan, Dasmari?as, Dumaguete, General Santos, Lipa, Naga, San Fernando, and Urdaneta, and in the municipalities of Marilao, Bulacan; Bacong and Sibulan, Negros Oriental; Rosario and Silang, Cavite.

BPO firms are the predominant locators in IT parks registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. The government offers tax incentives to BPO firms, including value-added tax and income tax exemption. The IT-BPO industry is today one of the country?s biggest job creators. In 2011, the sector recorded $11 billion investments and created 638,000 jobs. For 2012, it expects $13 billion revenues on a labor force of 764,000. By 2016, it projects $27 billion revenues and jobs for 1.3 million Filipino workers.

The rising demand for call center services leads the BPO boom. The Philippines holds a major portion of the global outsourcing market, due to the English proficiency of Filipinos. Call centers count among its clients giant multinationals. Pharmaceutical firms outsource their medical transcriptions in the country.

This year, several grants and subsidies were earmarked by various agencies and institutions for the sector?s educational and technical development. The Asian Development Bank granted P27.3 million in technical assistance for skills enhancement. State universities nationwide were allocated a budget of P125 million to fund IT-BPO-based programs. A P450-million subsidy was set aside by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for training. The Information and Communication Technology Office of the Department of Science and Technology allocated P350 million to support the IT-BPO industry.

We wish Philippine Economic Zone Authority Director General Dr. Lilia B. de Lima and Information and Communication Technology Office Executive Director Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary Louis Napoleon C. Casambre, all the best and success in their unwavering support to promote the global competitiveness of the information and communication technology sector. CONGRATULATIONS AND MABUHAY!