Foreign investors ignoring RP political situation — BOI head

Foreign investors are ignoring the country’s current political instability as they are still going ahead with their investment plans in the Philippines, Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) managing head Elmer C. Hernandez said yesterday.

This, he said, is underscored by the entry of Dell International Services, which, according to its vice president and general manager Rajan Anandan, based its decision to establish a contact training facility in Makati on the strength of the country’s manpower technical skills and developed infrastructure facilities.

Hernandez, a guest during the launch of Dell’s customer contact training center, also revealed that another American investor applying with the BOI had pointed out that such political noise "is normal in a democratic country."

What is important to foreign investors, Hernandez said, is "that we have the technical inputs to their investments."

The call center industry as well as business process outsourcing (BPO) services continue to be bright spots for the Philippines with growth in the sector expected to reach 100 percent from the current seats of 60,000 to 120,000 this year.

Hernandez highlighted the Philippines’ success in convincing Dell to put up its contact training center after nearly one and half years of negotiations.

Anandan acknowledged that Dell’s decision to locate in the Philippines is proof of the company’s confidence in the country and that Dell intends to build up its technical support and customer service operations in the country.

Dell is set to open in February next year its contact center at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City to exclusively service its Dell personal computers and laptop customers seeking technical support. The contact center will start out with 100 seats but will eventually ramp up to 700 seats.

In the future, Anandan said Dell may provide technical services and perhaps even customer sales even though Dell computers are already being sold in the Philippines.

SM Mall Of Asia To Host Dell Call Center Facility

Dell Inc., the world’s largest maker of personal computers, said its Philippine call center will be located in SM Prime’s biggest shopping mall.

Dell has leased 14,500 square meters of space in Mall of Asia, cornering about 3.8 percent of the commercial complex, said Rajan Anandan, vice president and general manager of Dell International Services.

Dell’s Philippine call center, its second facility in Asia to handle calls from the company’s customers in the US, will hire 700 people. That may help boost customer traffic in Mall of Asia, the most ambitious project of SM Prime Holdings Inc., the largest Philippine shopping mall operator. SM Prime is owned by billionaire retailer Henry Sy.

"We wanted a location where there was going to be tremendous opportunities in entertainment and amenities," Anandan told a press briefing yesterday. "We are excited about the prospects that that would offer our team members.’’

Located in a reclaimed area along Manila’s bay area, Mall of Asia has 381,000 square meters of floor area, making it the largest Philippine shopping mall. The mall, which has more than 280 tenants including cinemas, bookstores, electronic shops and restaurants, will open in February.

Global companies, including Sykes Enterprises Inc., are locating call centers in the Philippines, drawn in part by the nation’s English-speaking college graduates.

Call centers and other outsourcing companies, aside from generating jobs, are driving down office vacancy rates, which dropped to an eight-year low in 2004, mostly from their demand.

The Philippines has about 50,000 to 60,000 call center seats, with the potential to grow by half next year as more outsourcing companies expand and locate in the country, Trade Undersecretary Elmer Hernandez added.