MANILA, Philippines ? Indian conglomerate Interglobe Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. has opened a $3-million business process outsourcing (BPO) site in Taguig City, where it plans to hire at least 1,000 employees in a year?s time.

In a briefing Friday, the company?s subsidiary InterGlobe Technologies became the latest in a growing list of Indian companies that have invested in the Philippines, taking advantage of the country?s strengths in the BPO sector.

?In the next 12 months, I?m hoping we will already be looking for additional office space to expand our operations further in the Philippines,? the BPO firm?s chief executive officer Vipul Doshi said in a briefing.

The company?s 500-seater BPO facility in Taguig, Doshi said, would be the first of many InterGlobe sites in the country.

?Our initial investment was $3 million, and we intend to run this site 24 hours a day, seven days a week,? he said, noting that this would translate to about a thousand employees.

?Our decision to come to the Philippines was a long-term commitment to this country. This is our first center? but I think in the next 18 to 24 months, we can grow more significantly in size,? Doshi said.

Despite the company?s home country being the global leader in outsourcing, Doshi said InterGlobe was drawn to the Philippines because of the reliable infrastructure, quality workforce and its cultural similarities with India.

He said the Philippines? reputation among clients as a preferred outsourcing destination over other markets was also considered in the decision.

The Taguig site is InterGlobe?s first BPO venture outside of India.

He said the bulk of the company?s employees, including most management staff, would be Filipinos engaged in providing voice services to the InterGlobe?s clients.

These clients include major airlines like Virgin Atlantic, KLM and United Airlines. However, most employees the company will hire will also be trained to do non-voice services like back office work on top of the traditional voice-enabled jobs, making them ?universal agents.?

Aside from InterGlobe, several other Indian companies have set up shop in the Philippines.

In 2008, US-based People Support Inc., a major player in the Philippines? booming BPO sector, was acquired by Aegis BPO.

Aegis is the subsidiary of one of India?s largest conglomerates, the Essar group, which has businesses in heavy industries such as power generation, manufacturing, telecommunications and logistics, among others.

Another India-based BPO Genpact International, a former subsidiary of US-based GE Corp., is another large BPO firm that operates in the Philippines.

The BPO sector is one of the few bright spots expected to help the Philippine economy meet long-term growth goals.

The industry?s revenues for the year are expected to reach $8 billion, up from last year?s less than $7 billion, despite a global economic slowdown putting other sectors in the red.