RP may soon lose hold on BPO firms

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may find itself no longer on top of mind among companies wanting to outsource and offshore some of their functions if nothing is done to boost global awareness of what the country has to offer.

Oscar Sañez, president and chief executive of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines, admitted that the country, although an established presence in the business process outsourcing space, faced tough competition from other emerging BPO destinations.

He said Vietnam, Malaysia and Sri Lanka had been advertising heavily these past months to market themselves as potential BPO locations. Even industry powerhouse India had invested a significant amount to launch global advertising campaigns that spanned international publications and television channels.

“The challenge to us is to generate awareness. Not being able to do so can dislodge us from being one of the top destinations for offshoring,” he told the Inquirer. “The country has been registering declines in so many global competitiveness surveys. More than any time, we need a global awareness campaign to be launched now.”

But he said such a campaign, which BPAP and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc. wanted to implement from July-September, would have to take the back seat due to lack of funds.

“We won’t be able to do the global launch anymore this year because we still haven’t gotten the funding (that we’re seeking from the government),” he said. “We made a presentation to President Macapagal-Arroyo as early as April, but we still haven’t received any funding up to now.”

BPAP and Seipi, together with creative partner Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Philippines, sought to get P160 million of the P1-billion export support fund that the government had earmarked to help exporters stay afloat amid trying times.

In an earlier interview, BPAP executive director for information and research Gillian Joyce Virata said the groups had made another round of presentations to the Export Development Council, the facilitator of the ESF, last September for their global advertising campaign to “sell” the Filipino knowledge worker.

“As far as I know, they are still deliberating. [Trade Secretary Peter Favila] mentioned at the recent Economic Briefing that they are fast-tracking other proposals for funding from the export support fund, but I don’t know if our proposal is included among those being processed. We will keep trying,” she said.

Sañez said the private sector could not do it alone, as it was also dealing with limited funds. The government also had to contribute to the global awareness effort.

“Trade missions should go hand-in-hand with government-funded marketing and advertising campaigns. That’s how India is doing it,” he said.

Under the proposed BPAP-Seipi campaign, ads about Filipino knowledge workers would be released in the United States, Japan, Western Europe and Australia.

The ads would be placed on cable channels such as CNN and CNBC, as well as prominent publications such as Forbes, Fortune and Time Magazine.

These ad placements would be timed to coincide with state visits and government roadshows. –Abigail L. Ho, Philippine Daily Inquirer