RP to host international outsourcing summit in October

MANILA, Philippines - The government is looking at examining new challenges in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry to generate more jobs.

The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) together with several government agencies are organizing an international outsourcing summitin October.

BPAP said the purpose is to examine the changing nature of the industry, identify and address challenges to growth, and build global partnerships to capitalize on increasing opportunities.

“Bringing together industry stakeholders is important to ensuring continuous industry growth, which is why we are organizing this groundbreaking summit,” said Oscar Sañez, BPA/P CEO.

“Because the Philippines is the number two offshore BPO center globally, this is a logical place to meet. As a result, we’re seeing major industry personalities sign on as presenters and panelists as well as a steady stream of delegate registrations. This is an important conversation, and the most influential people in the industry are anxious to participate,” he added.

Delegates from Australia , Brazil , Canada, China, Egypt, France, India , Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, South Africa, the UK, and the US will participate in the international meeting.

Senior executives from global BPO companies and aligned industries such as telecom and network infrastructure and top officials of industry associations ae also expected to attend the summit.

BPAP said the key issues up for discussion in the summit include the changing landscape of the industry on a number of fronts.

The 2009 A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index showed that while 70 percent of offshore outsourcing spending still comes from the US, European spending has increased faster in 2009, resulting in changes in preferred outsourcing locations and language preference.

Shifts in geographical preference, including significant gains in the Philippines and Southeast Asia and the weakening of Eastern European locations, also make this global summit of critical interest to stakeholders around the world, Sanez said.

Sañez said that the summit will provide the opportunity to demonstrate the Philippines ’ new position of influence on the industry. “The international outsourcing summit allows us to publicly stake out our leadership role in the industry, and to demonstrate our influence on its development,” he said.