More BPO firms sought

DAVAO CITY — This city’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector is developing a program that will promote other cities in the Davao region for outsourcing investments in the next five years.

Teolulo T. Pasawa, the regional government’s ICT lead official, noted in a recent interview that investments from the industry have been cornered by Davao City in recent years, even as some neighboring urban centers could also host business process outsourcing (BPO) operations.

Mr. Pasawa said the plan will involve the promotion to ICT investors of the cities of Tagum, Panabo and Samal in Davao del Norte, Digos City in Davao del Sur and Mati City in Davao Oriental.

“The plan is very important because this will put these cities on the [industry] map,” Mr. Pasawa told BusinessWorld.

“We need to seize the opportunity and the plan will guide us [to see] what the other cities in the region need to become good investment areas.”

Mr. Pasawa noted that, based on the assessment of the Department of Trade and Industry, the country is next only to India in terms of attracting BPO investments, even as other countries in most other regions — from Latin America to Eastern Europe to Africa — have been moving to cash in on this sector.

Some of the cities, such as Mati in Davao Oriental and Tagum in Davao del Norte, have already included ICT as among the industry areas that they want developed.

Mary Michelle N. Rabat, Mati City mayor, said in an earlier interview that her administration is looking at how it could develop a local ICT sector, considering that connectivity remains a problem there.

But Ben Y. Melasa, speaking for the regional office of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., said last year that telecommunication providers have been trying to improve Internet connectivity not just in the city but also in other parts of the region.

Mr. Pasawa said that while there may be a significant increase in ICT businesses in the city and other parts of the region, it is now more difficult to track these activities because of the growing recruitment of home-based employees by small US outsourcing firms.

Besides an annual government-industry survey that named Davao as the top “next wave” city for ICT investments in the Philippines, US-based consultancy International Data Corp. had counted in October last year the same city among the top 10 offshore locations in the country, placing 10th.

Mr. Pasawa said the plan for the region would particularly look into the preparedness of the cities in hosting ICT investments, particularly involving connectivity and policies.

“Based on our initial assessment, the policy framework of the cities within the region [in relation to the industry] are similar and ICT-friendly,” Mr. Pasawa noted.

Davao region has been recognized for its comparatively big human resources pool since it generates about 15,000 college graduates annually.

The Information Technology Association of Davao has noted that big companies have taken notice of the local talent pool, setting up their operations in here in the last three years, said Erriberto P. Barriga, Jr., president of the association. — C. Q. Francisco, BUsinessworld