Koronadal, South Cotabato (20 October) -- With the huge business and employment opportunities offered by the Business Process Outsourcing, GenSan is now positioning as an alternative destination of choice for investment and entrepreneurship as an e-Services/BPO provider.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is business processes or services performed within the Philippines and delivered through communication networks, including the internet. BPO covers areas such as call centers, financial transaction processing, human resources management and other specialized services such as animation, architectural and engineering design and data transcription.

Recent trends have revealed that worldwide expenditures on outsourced services shows continued robust growth. Based on Plunkett Research, Ltd., outsourcing will be an approximately $400 billion global industry in 2006. The biggest segment of which are logistics, sourcing and distribution services sector, followed by information technology services, which covers the production of software and the management of computer centers. Another major section is in business process outsourcing (BPO), which is also called as IT-enabled Services (ITES) or e-Services, in the Philippine context.

While the Philippines is taking advantage of its world-class position in the BPO (e-Services) sector, it is also being challenged by issues specifically in sustaining the human resources required by the industry. Thus, the industry is moving towards untapped potentials in the regions to address the growing demand for human capital and reliable infrastructure.

To advance this thrust, the DTI, City Government of General Santos, ICT Solutions Association (ISA) and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (GenSan Chapter) have organized a BPO Forum as one of the major events to be highlighted during the e-Business Week on 26-30 October 2006. The forum will focus on the various opportunities that the BPO industry would bring to the vibrant entrepreneurs of Gen. Santos City. The target participants to the said forum are IT companies and existing companies in Region 12, members of various associations both in the field of accounting and engineering, academe, contractors and would-be investors.