BPO sector poised to exceed $9-b revenue target

The country’s business process outsourcing industry will likely register foreign exchange revenues of close to $10 billion this year, exceeding the government’s target of $9 billion, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology said Monday.

CICT Chairman Ivan Uy said in an interview with reporters that revenues of the BPO industry would likely hit $9 billion this month or the next on the back of strong demand from foreign companies.

“This year it will be a big jump from the $7.3-billion revenues last year. Projection was about $9 billion, and by this month or next month, we might be already pushing that number,” Uy said.

He said the increased revenues would result the industry workforce hitting 600,000 by the end of 2010 from about half a million jobs so far this year.

“All are going up, including the animation industry, the health information management system, software industry and the traditional voice and non-voice that we already have strong presence in,” he said.

The CICT earlier projected a 26-percent growth in the BPO sector, with revenues and workforce expected to reach $9 billion and 600,000, respectively.

Uy said the country’s BPO industry could end the year with close to $10 billion in revenues.

The Philippines, according to a report of the Everest Research Institute in 2009, accounted for 15 percent of the offshore BPO market and had emerged as a key destination for English-based work, especially for North American companies.

The Philippines, whose offshore market has grown 46 percent annually since 2004, is poised to emerge as a leading destination for non-voice business process outsourcing work. –Jeremiah F. de Guzman, Manila Standard Today