BPO-related investments picking up again in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Although the United States is still on its way to recovery, Cebu has started to gain investors’ inquiries for big-ticket Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies, as announced by the Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC) recently.

CIPC managing director Joel Mari S. Yu said that investors’ inquiries for BPO voice and non-voice have started to pick up. In fact, in the last few weeks CIPC had hosted several potential investors making ocular inspections in Cebu.

Yu hopes that this time, Cebu will be able to benefit from its number one “Emerging BPO destination” in the world position for two consecutive years (2008 and 2009), as the province was not able to fully enjoy it last year, because of the global recession.

While US is still the largest market for BPO investments, Yu said Cebu also is hoping to attract outsourcing companies from other continents like Europe.

The recent report by Tholons, declaring Cebu once again as number one “Emerging BPO destination” in the world for 2009, would reinforce Cebu’s popularity as preferred BPO investment hub.

However, Yu said Cebu still has to work out aggressively in improving its position from emerging to a fully “emerged” BPO destination.

Still, Cebu should be proud that it sustained its position as number one for two years now.

Based on the latest report released by Tholons, a leading full-service strategic advisory firm for Global Outsourcing and Investments, Cebu bested other cities in the world like Shanghai and Beijing in China, Krakow (Poland), Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

In its fourth year, Tholons not only lists/ranks the eight established and 50 Emerging destinations but also ranks the the Next 10 aspiring cities 'on the Tholons Radar'.

The report also provides relative scores of each of the cities for the six parameters of scale & quality of labor pool, cost, business catalyst, infrastructure, risk and quality of life which are a part of the Tholons Location Assessment Framework.The study views offshore destinations and location assessment from the perspective of the clients of offshore destinations.

This year, the top five (developed) Global Outsourcing destinations include Bangalore (India,); Delhi (India), Mumbai (India), Manila (Philippines) and Dublin (Ireland).

Cebu’s goal is to join these Cities as declared “developed” or “emerged” BPO destination in the world.

Yu suspected that one of the problems that keep Cebu from graduating to an “emerged” destination from “emerging” is the quantity of manpower it supplies a year. —Ehda M. Dagooc