ITES companies move to provinces

INFORMATION technology-enabled service (ITES) companies are setting up shop outside Metro Manila as the government steps up a campaign to promote regional urban centers as alternative locations for business process outsourcing operations, officials of the Department of Trade and Industry and local government units said. Undersecretary Carissa Cruz, who is in charge of the department's regional operations group, said the promotional efforts were aimed at developing a cyber service corridor similar to Malaysia's Multimedia Corridor. "The regions have been showing striking advancement in business infrastructure and the availability of human resource and real estate make firm their potential as ITES locations," she said. The regional IT hubs were showcased at the close of the e-Services Philippines 2006 Outsourcing Conference and Exhibition, which featured the cities of Zamboanga, General Santos City, Dumaguete, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Cebu, Naga and Davao and the provinces of Bohol, Bataan, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Leyte, Pampanga and other provinces. Also promoted was the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) region, south and east of Manila. In Davao, the trade and industry department's regional director Lou Pasawa said, Japanese firms had put up home improvement and English-language learning operations in the city by way of ITES. "Also, we have 400 call center seats online and PeopleSupport has put up a training center in Davao," Pasawa said. In Dumaguete, SPI Technologies and TeleTech have put up shop in what industry officials consider a very good location in terms of talent pool and infrastructure. In Cebu are 12 call centers, including those of Convergys and eTelecare. In Bacolod, City Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue said four major call center firms were expected to put up operations there this year. In General Santos, the department's Assistant Regional Director Doris Delima said home-grown companies engaged in medical transcription were thriving. INQ7.NET