‘RP: IT firms’ preferred offshore site’

The Philippines is considered an offshore destination of choice by global firms looking for suitable sites for outsourcing information technology (IT) operations.

This, according to the Presidential Commission on the Central Luzon Growth Corridor, is based on the study made by the Gartner Research & Services, a US-based global firm engaged in IT. The Gartner Group conducted its study and analysis of Philippine IT capability early this year.

"Its findings validated government and private sector views on the country’s inherent IT competitiveness," said the PCCLGC.

The study concluded that "the Philippines is in a position to generate $1 billion yearly in exported IT services from its current pool of some 290,000 IT-skilled Filipino professionals."

It also stated that the country "can become a contender" in the IT service market, particularly for business process outsourcing and contact center services.

According to Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Mar Roxas, the study confirms that "our IT-enabled services sector will be a major driver of our economy’s growth in the coming years."

The DTI targets a $1.7-billion revenue from IT-enabled services market by 2004.

The global IT-enabled service sector is estimated to grow by an average of 6 percent per annum, from a low of $142.2 billion to a high of $800 billion by 2005, the commission said. It added that the "2002 Investment Priorities Plan" lists five areas for promotion, namely, contact centers, business process outsourcing, application outsourcing, digital animation and medical prescription.

The PCCLGC added that the Filipino IT experts have "competitive edges" based on the following: world-class English proficiency, with "superior verbal skills (that is) clear and understandable. Level of understandability by Americans is comparatively better than India, significantly better than China. Verbal comprehension is generally ahead of China, either on a par or slightly below India."

Affinity to US culture, that "interpersonal norms of behavior and organizational culture is adapted to American ways. Investments in training is thus less"; highly-skilled workforce, "with a high concentration of workers that can achieve desired expertise level in US business processes."

Strong work ethic, as Filipinos "can work long hours with high level of productivity is also considered. Employee loyalty and dedication is strong."