PNoy dares BPOs to outperform industry roadmap

On the note that government will support the industry, President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday challenged business process outsourcing stakeholders  to top their goal of $25 billion in revenues and 1.3 million jobs by 2016.   "I want you to surpass those targets," the President said in his speech closing the 8th International Contact Center Conference and Expo at Mall of Asia in Pasay City.   The main thing now is maintaining the country’s current position, after surpassing India as world’s No. 1 destination for call center operations in 2010, Aquino said.   "The Department of Science and Technology and the Commission on Higher Education have tied up to boost competitiveness of this sector" by including in tertiary learning curriculum business communication courses, he said.   "This will improve skills, not just for the BPO but other fields as well," Aquino noted.   The industry is expected to grow by 19 percent this year – from an earlier estimate of 15 percent at the start of the year, Business Processing Association of the Philippines president Benedict Hernandez said.   "We will not just defend our current status but lead the rest of the world," Hernandez said.   The current expansion of BPO companies toward Next Wave cities – or future locations in the country hosting BPO operations – reflects on how the industry continue to grow, Aquino noted.   In 2011, the IT-BPO industry generated $11 billion in revenues and employed about 640,000 agents, supervisors, and managers. An industry road roadmap places IT-BPO generating $25 billion in revenues and  employing 1.3 million Filipinos. — VS, GMA News