RP's top 10 next wave cities awarded during IT Congress

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu being recognized globally as the top emerging BPO (business process outsourcing) destination, hosted the awarding ceremony of the top 10 Next Wave Cities in the Philippines.

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) in cooperation with the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) named Davao City as the best outsourcing location in the Philippines, followed by Sta. Rosa (Laguna) and Bacolod.

Other cities that were given recognition include; Bacolod City, Iloilo City, Metro Cavite, Lipa City, Cagayan de Oro City, Malolos City, Baguio City, and Dumaguete City.

Davao and Sta. Rosa were the top Next Wave Cities for outsourcing in the Philippines in 2010 outside of Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Clark.

The event which was attended by CICT secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III was held at the Cebu City Sports Club to mark the culmination of this year’s Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s BPO & IT Congress.

The Next Wave Cities scorecard underwent changes in 2010 from the original 2009 scorecard to reflect the change in market sentiment of investors following the global financial crisis.

In particular, weights of the different criteria were recalibrated in response to locators’ seemingly keener interest in the cost of doing business in different locations.

The talent criterion was also modified to recognize educational institutions, which are accredited as Centers of Excellence/Development by the Commission of Higher Education (CHED).

Also taken into consideration was each city’s absorptive capacity, or its local BPO sector’s estimates employment capacity versus existing sector employment.

These new metrics added dimensions in the employability of local talent particularly its quality and availability.

A different approach on the scoring on the travel advisory component of the business environment criterion was implemented. Considered were issuance from 10 consulates, that were each assigned scores.

This was a practical change especially for cities in the Mindanao region, which were previously penalized if a blanket advisory was issued against the region.

In the previous computation, an advisory issued against a city (or its corresponding region) automatically warranted the lowest score.

Also in 2010, Angeles-Clark advanced from Next Wave City status to an established IT-BPO location, joining the ranks of Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.

“The CICT is fully committed to this endeavor of championing regional growth through ICT. These Next Wave Cities will continue to be our rallying points, where, given the impetus and the correct resources, will spur economic growth the way this government has envisioned it to be,” Roxas-Chua said.

He added that the CICT is seeing prosperous regions across the nation as a result of their maturity and readiness to compete in the IT-BPO arena.

As of the end of 2009, there are about 442,000 employees in the Philippine IT-BPO sector. Majority or 85 percent of the sector is located in established IT-BPO hubs Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Clark.

“Having then Next Wave Cities and more will ease the pressures to raise salaries and rental rates in these major hubs, and spread the benefits of employment, higher incomes, and increased business activity across the country,” said BPAP chief executive officer (CEO) Oscar Sañez.