Phl needs to improve education, policies to attract BPO investors

 CEBU, Philippines - While the target to generate at least US$25 billion in revenues from the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector, stakeholders are calling on the government to make serious efforts in improving the educational system, as well as investment policies to attract more BPO investors to the country.“Frankly, the target is a bit aggressive, but I am optimistic that it will be achieved,” said Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (Cedfit) president Gregg Gabison.

He said that in order for the Philippines to hit the ambitious target in the BPO sector, it has to review its policies, specifically the creation of the Department of Information, Communication Technology (DICT), so that the sector could be given serious attention.

Relaxing or softening foreign ownership for foreign funded investments, which is now pegged at 40 percent is seen as one of the issues that gave a ‘hiccup’ to the development and growth of the BPO sector in the Philippines.

Gabison said although the academe sector, specifically in Cebu is trying to connect with the industry, to provide quality and employable graduates, it is very important for the government to implement an effective intervention in bridging the gap between the industry and the academe.

Likewise, Cebu Business Club (CBC) president Dondi Joseph expressed optimism that the Philippines will be able to hit the target revenue of the BPO industry, including the projected employment generation of 1.3 million in the next four years however, the government has to have a good strategy that will ensure that the country will sustain its attractiveness to foreign BPO investors.

“We have almost four years to prepare and we now have very specific goals. This is very important. Now, what they [government] need to have is a strategy that will ensure we attract investors and a strategy to make sure we have an educational system to produce qualified graduates,” said Joseph.

In his recent State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Benigno Aquino III vowed to increase the budget of the state universities and colleges, in order to improve the educational system in the Philippines, while painting rosy projection on the BPO sector.

“For our State Universities and Colleges: We have proposed a 43.61 percent increase in their budget next year. A reminder, though, that everything we do is in accordance to a plan: There are corresponding conditions to this budget increase. The SUC Reform Roadmap of CHED, which has been deliberated and agreed upon, must be enacted to ensure that the students sponsored by the state are of top caliber. Expect that if you work to get high marks in this assignment, we will be striving just as hard to address the rest of your needs,” the President said in his SONA. (FREEMAN)