by Lorie Ann A. Cascaro
DAVAO City is number one again, this time of the Top 10 Next Wave Cities of 2010, chosen by the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
“Next wave cities” are areas that have the capacity to support the growth of information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector. These are outside Metro Manila and Metro Cebu which are now experiencing a shortage in human resources while IT-BPO investors are increasing.
Top scorer
The scoring was based on the following criteria: talent (50%), infrastructure (30%), business environment (15%), and cost of doing business (5%). Eriberto Barriga Jr., president of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Davao, a local organization of private sectors involved in ICT, said Davao City got 99% for talent, 95% for infrastructure, 76% for business environment, and 74% for cost in doing business.
The nine cities that follow Davao are: Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Bacolod; Iloilo; Metro Cavite; Lipa, Batangas; Cagayan de Oro City; Malolos, Bulacan; Baguio; and Dumaguete in that order.
In a letter dated June 7, CICT Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III congratulated Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte for the city’s latest feat, saying “your being number one in the top ten truly shows your support and dedication in making your city as one of the best cities for information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) investments.
Mayor-elect Sara Duterte will lead the ICT Davao delegation to Cebu City to receive the award for the city during recognition night on Tuesday, June 22.
With Inday Sara are ICT Davao president Barriga, Davao City Chamber of Commerce of Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) president Robert Quinto, and four others from the BPO industry.
Significance
Stakeholders, ICT professional and entrepreneurs, business leaders and regional government executives are euphoric over Davao’s latest triumph.
The city’s standing will inspire government and private sector ICT leaders to close ranks and work harder than ever before, chamber president Quinto said.
This is no time for us to rest on our laurels, it will not take long before call centers start flooding the whole of Asia, and the Philippines will find itself competing with other countries, said Quinto, paraphrasing economist Bernardo Villegas, president of the University of Asia and the Pacific.
KPO potentials
“As early as now, we should be thinking forward, particularly in engaging in KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing),” he said. He said that the service will not only be focused on voice, which is what call centers provide, because there is also a demand for other skills, including transcription, drafting, animation, accounting and many more.
There is a potential for KPO in Davao City, Trade and Industry City Director Teolulo Pasawa said, adding that the “knowledge pool” in the city is exceptional. He said there are already home-based operations in the city that engage more in KPO, but they cannot be tracked down as of the moment because there is no need for them to be registered.
There are 18 contact centers in Davao city employing more than 5,000, and 10 of these have at least 200 seats each today, according to Pasawa. There are eight companies involved in transcription with 170-200 workers; 17 in software development with 150; three in animation with 50, and three in engineering and design process with 400. These business process outsourcing (BPO) companies provide an estimated over all 6,400 jobs in the city, Pasawa said.
Davao City’s ICT-BPO status will mean more jobs, according to lawyer Jalilo dela Torre, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment. However, dela Torre said the most important factor, quality of manpower pool, should be addressed in order to maintain the No. 1 ranking. “The public sector, in cooperation with the ICT industry, must lay out interventions to English-speaking, ICT-savvy people,” Dela Torre said.
More infra needed
Upgrading the quality of the workforce is important as it is one of the advantages of Davao City. Pasawa said the city’s workforce is twice that of Cebu City, six times that of Baguio City, seven times that of Clark, and nine times that of Subic.
Lizabel “Wit” Holganza, chief executive officer of the Zipit Solutions, Inc., who is immediate past president of ICT Davao, said, “ranking number one among the next wave cities for outsourcing raises the bar for delivering consistently excellent service quality for Davao’s outsourcing providers. To achieve this, industry stakeholders need to work more closely with the local government in making available excellent infrastructure while keeping costs reasonable.”
More infrastructures will be needed, particularly office space, hotel rooms, convention centers, housing, medical facilities and comfort zones, said Domingo Duerme, representative of the air, sea and land transportation sector of the Tourism and Infrastructure Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza). He said Tieza would be assisting on start-ups, but it would really be the initiatives of the private sectors that matter most.
Tieza to come in
“We will wait for proposals from the local government and the Department of Tourism so that whatever projects or programs that we will have would be aligned with that of the city,” he added.
Davao City’s Number 1 ranking augurs well for the new city government under with Mayor Inday Sara, who has placed investment as one of her economic program’s top priorities, Pasawa said. The DTI officials also lauded the spirit of volunteerism of business associations like ICT Davao and the DCCCII in promoting Davao City.
Pasawa added that government and the industry had began to mainstream Tagum City and Digos City, and eventually Panabo City, in developing the BPO industry in these areas considering their potential in human and logistical resources.
Incentives
Quinto said that in order to maintain the ranking and attract more investors, more incentives should be put up, particularly for IT-BPO companies, aside from the existing exemption from payment of building permits and real estate tax holiday. “Applying for business permits should be made easier. It would be better if they could come up with a fast lane for applications in order to entice more investors,” he said.
