Metro Manila 3rd top global BPO hub, survey says

Metro Manila climbed up a notch on a list of the world’s top outsourcing hubs in 2012, ranking just behind India’s Bangalore and Mumbai.

A new study released this week by research firm Tholons showed that in 2012, Metro Manila edged out New Delhi to occupy the world’s 3rd top spot.

Also, Cebu City improved its position, climbing to 8th place in 2012 from the previous year’s 9th.

Apart from the top two, four other cities on the top 10 list were from India: New Delhi (4th), Chennai (5th), Hyderabad (6th) and Pune (7th).

At 9th and 10th places were the only European cities on the list: Dublin in Ireland and Krakow in Poland, respectively.

Other top Philippines cities cited by Tholons were: Davao (70th), Sta. Rosa (84th), Iloilo (93rd), Bacolod (94th), and Baguio (99th).

According to Tholons, the Philippines enjoys a more vibrant IT-BPO industry than those of Indonesia or Malaysia.

These three countries are considered the most promising Southeast Asian destinations in 2012.

The region’s “maturing outsourcing brand, improving macroeconomic environment, and expanding domestic markets” were cited in the survey as the reasons why large service providers prefer Southeast Asian markets.

“The Philippines’ IT-BPO industry was fueled by increased new investments from large and mid-sized foreign providers, as well as greater expansions of established locators and captives across many of the country’s established delivery locations,” Tholons said.

The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) said the improvement in Metro Manila and Cebu’s rankings reaffirmed the Philippines’ position as a destination of choice for outsourcing services.

“The year 2013 promises to be even greater as we expect revenues to increase to $16 billion to provide employment to 926,000 Filipinos,” BPAP president Benedict Hernandez said. “We are steadfast in ensuring that the industry will achieve its targets of $25 billion in revenues and 1.3 million full-time employees by 2016.”

Several large BPO firms either set up shop or expanded operations in the Philippines last year, Hernandez said, explaining the improvement in the country’s position.