IT-BPO sector to review targets by yearend

MANILA, Philippines - Major players in the information technology – business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry are reviewing the revenue and job generation targets set almost three years ago to take into consideration major developments.

Benedict Hernandez, president and chief executive officer of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), said in an interview with reporters that the group needs to refresh the assumptions used in the establishment of the targets in 2010.

He explained that factors to be reviewed include the competitiveness of the Philippines against other countries as well as the foreign exchange rate.

“We are now doing a refresh of what assumptions we used in 2010,” he added.

Hernandez, who is also president and chief executive officer of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), said the refresh of the assumptions would help determine whether the industry would revise its medium-term targets.

Under the Roadmap 2016, the IT-BPO industry is expected to register a compounded annual growth rate of 20 percent hitting $25 billion by 2016 or about 10 percent of $256-billion global IT-BPO market share.

This year, the industry’s revenue base is expected to about $13 billion from last year’s $11 billion.

Both BPAP and CCAP believe that the industry’s growth momentum would continue despite the higher costs brought about by the weaker US dollar.

“Despite the growing costs, there is still a significant rate of momentum and growth will continue,” Hernandez stressed.

The peso has strengthened to the 41 to $1 territory last month on the back of the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals as well as the economic problems in advanced economies that continue to drive speculative foreign funds to the Philippines.

Earlier, Information and Communications Technology Office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ICTO) deputy executive director Alejandro Melchor, urged major players in the industry to revise upwards the targets under the Roadmap 2016.