The Philippines’ BPO (business process outsourcing) revenue in 2007 amounted to $5 billion, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) revealed.

The DTI annual report indicates that the revenue of the country’s outsourcing industry increased from $3.5 billion in 2006. Currently, the country’s world leader in employee outsourcing has a total of 320,000 workers, which is higher in comparison with 2006 with a total of 235,000 employees.

This growth is in line with the Philippine Government’s campaign to boost this industry not only locally, but also with its target among major international investors. The Philippines is one of the front line options in terms of BPO especially call center which is voice account scheme.

Apart from the call center, the Philippines is also promoting its competence in medical transcription, IT (information technology), animation, among others. Earlier, positive reports from international business leaders in Davos, Switzerland praised the country’s tremendous growth in outsourcing at the recent World Economic Forum.

Companies large and small are operating in the Philippines due to its profitable services and investor-friendly environment. The President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in her previous statements published in the Office of the Press Secretary (PAHO), thanked investors for boosting the country’s economic activity. She added that job opportunities in the outsourcing industry are a way to support her campaign for a “Strong Republic” nation.

Competence

Since the competition is very high in BPO, several countries in Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States are also pushing this industry to stay on top.

There is no doubt that the country of today will succeed in keeping the industry alive. The most serious thing to consider is to stay on top because other countries are seriously promoting their BPO industry not only to earn revenue but also to be a world leader.

Oscar Sanez, director of the Philippine Business Process Association, revealed during the e-Services briefing on Thursday that the country remains competitive.

Mr. Sanez said that voice-based (call center) continues to grow in the country due to the fluency of all Filipinos in English. However, Sanez urged BPO companies to also strengthen the country’s weaknesses in accounting, finance, engineering design and IT services.

Meanwhile, DTI said that Filipino graduates with a high knowledge of liberal arts, which are the studies that focus on general knowledge and intellectual skills, give a favorable advantage to the country as the preferred outsourcing destination over other destinations. offshore like India.

DTI added that increased English fluency and more customer service orientation are among the reasons potential investors like the country.

Meanwhile, Richard Mills, an Asia Pacific outsourcing expert, revealed that India is known to be one of the top producers of technical knowledge, while the Philippines is focusing more on the liberal arts.

Mr. Mills revealed that localizers from all over the world are placing their businesses in the country, such as animation, medical services, insurance process, legal services, publishing and content enhancement. Mr. Mills is one of the speakers during the Business Venture Track Philippines e-Services Outsourcing Conference & Exhibition which is attended by BPO executives, entrepreneurs, local and national politicians.

Each year, the country’s graduates reach 385,000 with a solid background in the English language. The country also produces more than 100,000 accountants and business-related college graduates each year.

To demonstrate the best of Filipino accountants, the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) recognized the accounting skills of Filipinos. This is because Filipino accountants who have passed the annual Certified Public Accountancy (CPA) exam are familiar with GAAP and International Accounting Standards (IAS) in terms of financial reporting.

Philippine Outsourcing will continue to provide the best services to its clients worldwide and is expected to grow to $12.4 billion with 303,000 job opportunities in the next two years.