ROXAS URGES GOVERNMENT TO BACK 2010 BPO ROADMAP

Senator Mar Roxas urged the government to back a new roadmap drawn up by the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector to corner a 10% share of the $130-billion worldwide market by the year 2010.

Roxas, chair of the Senate committee on trade and commerce, said the offshoring and outsourcing sector's 2010 roadmap is attainable as long as educational reforms are in place and the business environment improves.

"Outsourcing has become a key driver of job creation in the country. We cannot afford to lose this highly competitive niche by default due to misguided priorities and lack of reforms in the education sector," the senator said. "Hindi puwedeng 'bahala na' dahil madaming kaagaw ang Pilipinas sa merkadong ito," Roxas added.

The industry grew from US$1.5 billion in revenues in 2004 to US$ 3.3 billion in 2006. The roadmap aims to corner 10% of the global outsourcing and offshoring market thus increasing revenues to US$13 billion and direct employment to close to 1 million people by the end of 2010.

The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) recently credited Senator Mar Roxas for his stewardship of the outsourcing industry from its infancy in 2001 until today, citing "his role as a tireless advocate of offshoring and outsourcing investments in the Philippines."

In its report, BPAP cited Roxas, industry leader Ernest Cu, and Christopher Bershouri of McKinsey & Company for conceiving and putting together a consortium of stakeholders to support the formulation of a new roadmap for the BPO sector.

"From 230,000 full-time positions in 2006 to 900,000 jobs by 2010 - that is the industry's goal. To achieve this, we need urgent reforms in the educational system, an effective training program to boost English proficiency and a more stable business and political environment," Roxas said.

The former DTI Secretary said that the robust growth of the industry is in marked contrast to data from the labor department that despite improvements in the economy, 37,789 workers were retrenched following closures of almost 2,000 firms in 2006.

A majority of the commercial establishments cited economic difficulties and lack of market as reasons for the closures and retrenchment of workers. "The reverse is true for the outsourcing and offshoring market. However, we need to build up a larger talent pool to remain competitive and preserve the gains of the industry," Roxas said.

- more - The 2010 BPO roadmap will be formally unveiled on Monday, November 5 with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as guest of honor. The roadmap mentions several steps needed to improve manpower recruitment to meet demands of its foreign clients.

For one, it recommends tapping alternative talent pools including housewives, retirees, non-graduates, and career-switchers to broaden its workforce. Industry leaders are also looking at developing 75% of all available talent that resides outside Metro Manila, which has yet to be fully leveraged by the industry.

It also points out the need for a comprehensive assessment and training program to increase the suitability of workers for the BPO industry.