Government, groups create road map to make Cebu top BPO hub

Written by Wilfredo Rodolfo III / Reporter

Wednesday, 30 June 2010 19:50

THOLONS advisory group and the Cebu City government recently inked an agreement to create a road map for the city’s business process outsourcing (BPO) industry as the region tries to position itself as one of the world’s biggest players in the sector. Tholons managing director for Southeast Asia Jonathan de Luzuriaga said the study has already commenced and should be completed by September this year. “The story of Cebu must be told to the world in such a way as to encourage investors,” de Luzuriaga said. “The study will tell what Cebu is capable of doing.” He said there is also a marketing component in the study where Tholons will assist Cebu in finding its niche and announcing it to the $50-billion worldwide industry. The study will also look at the talent pipeline in the city, the infrastructure available, and the marketing promotions of the city and the industry stakeholders. The UK-based company has named Cebu City as the number-one emerging BPO destination of the world for the second time since 2009. The P3-million project will be funded by the city and through contributions from BPO locators in Cebu, as well as telecommunications companies. This is the first time a study of such magnitude is done in the country. Metro Cebu takes some 20 percent of the total BPO industry in the Philippines, with some 40,000 employees working from call centers to software engineers to animators. Joel Mari Yu, director of the Cebu Investments and Promotions Center, which represents the city in the deal, said the study is essential for the city to grow as an investment location. “On our own, we know our strengths and weaknesses, but we need to see the needs of the world and what our competition is doing, that is what this study will tell us,” Yu said. “We want to know where Cebu is strong at, as we know we cannot be masters of everything. We will need to know why we’re doing what.” BPO stakeholders are excited about the study, especially as they push Cebu more on the higher-value services. Jerry Rapes, chairman of the ICT Congress held in Cebu last week, said Cebu has the capacity to focus on services that need fewer people but generate more revenues—like company backroom services to more technical works like software engineering. “We want to know where we are right now so we will know what to do to become a fully emerged BPO destination,” Rapes said. In Photo: With properties like the newly declared information-technology zone shown here, the Cebu Business Park in Cebu City is primed to become an international business-process outsourcing investments destination. This effort will be given more push with the upcoming study by advisory group Tholons, which will create a road map for the industry in Cebu. (Photo courtesy of Cebu Holdings Inc.)