Bring out success stories in Mindanao, execs tell BPOs
Newswire Services
September 08, 2009
"It´s about getting the message out. These (BPO) players are already here and they can help bring out that message," said Sec. Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III, Chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) who spoke during the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Summit 2009 held here recently.
Roxas-Chua said that Davao and other parts in Mindanao which show great potential as BPO locations should intensify information drive saying trade and investment climate in the island-region are "better that what they seem".
Mindanao is also becoming one of the country´s preferred ICT investment destinations. Davao and Cagayan de Oro City, two of the island´s major cities, ranked 4th and 8th respectively, as the Philippines´ Next Wave Cities in 2008.
"We need to bring out success stories in Davao and Mindanao and we need to bring them to a wider audience," Joyce Virata, Executive Director of the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP), one of the Summit´s speakers who also shared that they are running a Global Ad Campaign for the country in attracting potential BPO locators.
She added that this will not only entice potential BPO locators but curb the long-standing perception problem which she said still pervades in the international arena.
Lizabel Holganza, President of the ICT Davao Inc. said that as a proactive stance towards taking advantage of the huge potential in the BPO, stakeholders in the region have come together to draft an ICT roadmap which would spell out specific programs and projects that will address the major areas in ICT including talent development, infrastructure, cost of doing business and risk management, and embarking in sustained info dissemination campaigns.
"We gain more mileage by inviting potential locators here," she said, adding that the number of interested locators that they have hosted has increased over the past year.
Holganza also said that the ICT sector in Davao supports the move to create the Department of ICT which will ensure continuity of ICT development programs.
Roxas-Chua allayed fears of the private sector that the creation of the ICT department is just a "bloating of the bureaucracy", saying that the proposed move is streamlining the bureaucracy as it combines related agencies into one department.
He added that they will not pursue an increase in budget but rather a combined budget of the various agencies that will be placed under the department.
He said that the government has now seen the benefits of the industry which have become clearer now than before in terms of job generation and its role in improving government services and skills.
He also cited that CICT continues to pursue academe-industry linkage by providing guidance in terms of the BPO industry needs and curriculum development. MEDCo
Photo: NEXT WAVE CITY. Sec. Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III of the Commission on ICT
(left) awards the plaque citing Davao as one of the Next Wave Cities in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry during the recent ICT Summit
2009 in Davao City. Two Mindanao cities placed in the said top 10 list with Davao ranking number 4 and Cagayan de Oro ranking 8. Receiving the award is Davao City Councilor Tessie Mata-Maraņon (middle) and ICT Davao President Lizabel Holganza (2nd from right). Also in the photo is Joyce Virata (2nd from left), Executive Director of the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and Simeon Marfori II, President of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and industry (extreme right). MEDCo