Mindanao, Davao need concrete data to entice investors - expert
by Prix D Banzon
Davao City (26 October) -- Concrete data and timing are needed by Mindanao and Davao to be able to entice investors to come for business process outsourcing.
Charles D. Solomon, head, BPO Operations Practice of Kaisan Consulting in a press conference on Thursday at the Marco Polo Hotel said there has to be a study whether the area is ready for the ICT challenge.
He said Davao City for instance would be able to take changes not only in the economic growth but the entire lifestyle.
"There is not enough concrete data coming from Davao City and this is what the players must try to complete," he said.
He said outsourcing is a very promising industry and that several surveys from different reputable companies have continuously shown steady growth for the industry.
But he said outsourcing is no longer all about moving jobs elsewhere but sourcing talent everywhere.
"We can be ready for this if we put our acts together," he said.
Mindanao, he said, present an overwhelming pool of talents waiting to be unleased.
Solomon also said that the country's key players is aiming to get US$13 billion market share by 2010 and some 1 million jobs three years from now.
A development road map is being developed that would serve as guide for the IT sector, he said.
Lizabel Holganza, vice president for external affairs of ICT Davao, Inc. said the private and public sectors vowed to collaborate with each other to push for the industry to move.
She said their next step is for the Davao City key players to sit down with the city government and discuss possible collaboration of conducting study for them to gather concrete data related to ICT.
She said they would be working with both private and public sector to complete a proposal for a study and submit the plan to a donor agency to help the key players come up with concrete data that they would show to investors.
The experience of Cebu Education Institute for IT, she said, is what they will propose to the Davao City government and the recommendations of the Business Process Outsourcing Association of the Philippines.
Holganza said only when we can present concrete data for the IT industry sector can we entice investors to come.
Meanmwhile Holganza said they were able to meet their objectives with regards to the conduct of the 6th MICT Congress and 1st BIMP EAGA ICT Congress.
She said they were able to bring together key ICT players and stakeholders with a shared vision of elevating ICT to the next level thru synergy with the EAGA countries. (PIA XI) [top]
