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Philippines IT Services attracts European CompaniesPasay City, Philippines - August 2, 2005 The Philippines IT and IT-enabled firms attracted business process outsourcing deals from European companies during the recent Philippine business mission to Europe, according to the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM). The Philippines IT and IT-enabled services firms that visited Europe represent the following business process outsourcing areas:
The report also said that offshore service spending in Western Europe will grow from EUR 1.1 billion in 2004 to EUR 3.6 billion in 2009, with the UK accounting for 76 percent of that amount. Aside from the growing outsourcing demand in Europe, other factors driving the need for technology-enhanced BPO are:
To date, Dutch companies with outsourced processes in the Philippines are Getronics, ING Group, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and ABN AMRO. Meanwhile, British companies with outsourcing operations in the country are Standard Chartered Bank, Sykes and Ambergris Solutions. The Philippine delegation, led by Trade Assistant Secretary and CITEM executive director Felicitas Agoncillo-Reyes, met with Universal Marine BV, SOLLAND, Allied Aircraft Assistance Worldwide Association, KLM, Sommer Holding Ltd., Digital Port (Information Center) Rotterdam, Logica CMG, HSBC, Express Gifts London, National Outsourcing Association (London), INTELLECT (UK IT Association), Mitial Research International, Arcware Solutions, Ltd., MRA Marketing Solutions. Some of the potential business leads gathered by Philippines IT and IT-enabled firms from the mission were business processing deals with Logica CMG, Express Gifts and the Emirates Group. Logica is a major global force in IT services and wireless telecoms, with around 21, 000 people across 34 countries. In the Philippines, Globe and Sun Cellular are among Logica's clients for SMS and MMS. The company has an offshore development center in India serving different verticals like telecom, financial services and energy and utilities among others. Express Gifts Financial Services Director Nasser Malik is also looking into opening up a 200-seat contact center in the Philippines to take order calls for home shopping and other call types. Other business prospects for the Philippines IT and IT-enabled services include: a 500-seat contact center requirement for outbound calls; finance and accounting outsourcing services, such as payroll, for a large insurance company; and a networking relationship with Digital Port Rotterdam that can link Philippines IT enabled services firms to European companies with outsourcing requirements. During the mission, the Philippines also participated for the first time in Outsource World London, a two-day conference and exhibition featuring 70 exhibitors from 10 countries. "The Philippine participation in Outsource World is part of our trade and investment promotions in Europe in which the BPO market continues to grow in size," CITEM officials said. The government's international promotions agency also added that it was worth noting how most of the European companies intended to do business with the Philippines. The Philippines is the third largest English-speaking nation in the world outside the United States and the UK. Philippines IT professionals are also highly trainable with a learning curve of only six to eight weeks. The Philippines has the largest pool of quality accountants in Asia, with 105,000 graduates of finance, accounting and management every year, increasing by about 3,000 yearly. The U.S.' Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) rank Filipino accountants as "among the best in the world." According to the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, the Philippines is number 4 source of IT professionals in the world. The Philippines IT and IT-enabled services' business mission to Europe was organized by CITEM, the Board of Investments (BOI), in coordination with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Rotterdam and London.
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