IT-BPO grew despite crisis, says survey

MANILA, Philippines—The Information Technology segment of the business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry in the country grew substantially in 2009, even when the global economic crisis peaked at the time, results of the latest survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed.

IT-BPO services cover information technology functions of enterprises that are outsourced to external firms.

According to the IT-BPO survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last year, results of which were released over the weekend, revenues generated by the country’s IT-BPO industry amounted to $8.3 billion in 2009.

This marked a 30.6-percent jump from $6.3 billion the previous year.

The increase in the industry’s revenues came despite the global economic crunch, which led to declines in investments in various sectors globally.

Officials from the BSP, which monitors inflows of foreign capital into the country, said the industry’s revenue growth in 2009 partly helped the Philippines escape recession.

The economic turmoil in 2009 pulled most advanced economies into recession that year. In the case of the Philippines, however, it kept itself from recession and instead posted a decelerated pace of growth.

The country grew by 1.1 percent in 2009 as the anemic performance of industrialized countries, led by the United States, caused declines in export incomes of emerging economies.