BPO industry to leverage from ASEAN integration

CEBU, Philippines - The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry players in the Philippines are confident of their lead in the region’s offshoring sector, particularly in the 2015 ASEAN integration.

Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) chairman Raffy S. David said that the industry will not be affected by the One ASEAN community, in fact, the Philippines can leverage from the integration.

He said through the integration, the ASEAN will be one of the country’s biggest markets wherein the Philippines will have the perfect venue to showcase its proficiency in the English language.    

To date, the industry is working on how to sustain its leadership in the world's outsourcing and offshoring sector as tougher competition looms.

At the start of 2010, the Philippines' outsourcing sector was recognized as the world's most preferred destination. In 2012, almost half million Filipinos were employed by the sector.

CCAP president Benedict Hernandez said that although the ASEAN integration is not seen as a threat to the sector, rather as an advantage for the Philippines, industry players will seriously discuss on how to leverage from the integration during the upcoming 9th International Contact Center Conference and Expo (ICCCE) to be held next week at the Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa.

"After becoming number one, where-else can we go,? we should maintain and widen this leadership position," Hernandez said.

Last year, the BPO industry generated US$8.9 billion, a 19 percent growth from the previous year.

To further push its bid of expanding and firming up its grasp of the world’s outsourcing market at the same time surviving a sluggish market, the industry is reiterating its call for the government to introduce policies designed specifically to improve the outsourcing sector in the country.

Hernandez said aside from the unstable foreign exchange, the industry is also facing the threats on ample talent supply and infrastructure, among others.

The BPO sector is one of the few sectors in the Philippines that are anticipating the positive effects of the ASEAN integration to its sector./JOB (FREEMAN)