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Iloilo and Bacolod cities were among the three cities in the Visayas excluding Cebu that are included in the list of Top 10 Next Wave of Locations for Outsourcing in the Philippines.The list was released by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology CICT under the Office of the President, Business Process Association of the Philippines BPAP and the Department of Trade and Industry DTI.
Iloilo City ranked third with the score of 80.93 percent while Bacolod City ranked fifth with the score of 78 percent.
Councilor Jocelle BatapaSigue, chairperson of Sangguniang Panglungsod Committee on Communications and Technology and the prime mover of IT Industry in the city, welcomed the positive development. She said that in 2004, it was just a dream to be included in next wave cities for outsourcing in the country but now, records showed that the city shines in this field with the help of various sectors.
The CICTBPAPDTI scorecard computed the scores using the following criteria, Availability of Talent 50 percent, Infrastructure 30 percent, Business Environment 15 percent and Cost 5 percent.
Bacolod topped the business environment category with the score of 96 percent while Iloilo got the second place with 92 percent score. The category includes availability of PEZA accredited sites, peace and order, absence of travel advisory, crime rate, out from calamity area and presence of IT council,organization.
Bacolod is very conducive to outsourcing with its very businessfriendly environment, Sigue said.
Out of 11 PEZA accredited sites in the city, 7 has presidential proclamation while another one will enter Bacolod soon situated in 15hectare property with a big mall.
The Metro Laguna comprising the cities of Sta. Rosa City, Calamba, Los Baños and San Pablo City was cited as the best outsourcing location in the Philippines outside Metro Manila and Cebu with the score of 88.35 percent while Metro Cavite composed of Damariñas, Bacoor, Imus and Cavite City was ranked second with 85.47 percent score.
Ranked fourth is Davao with 80.40 percent, while cities of AngelesClarkMabalacat 77.10 percent ranked sixth followed by BaliuagMarilaoMeycauayan 73.53 percent, Cagayan de Oro 73.13 percent, MalolosCalumpit 72.93 percent and Lipa 72.53 percent.
Iloilo topped Bacolod in Availability of Talent scoring 72 percent vizaviz Bacolods 70.40 percent, because of the number of schools generating graduates for human resource in the area.
Infrastructure on the hand includes hotels, domestic,international flights, availability of real estates, power infra, telecommunications and availability of internet connections and fiber optics. Cost composed of labor the minimum wage, power rate and real estate rate.
With facts presented, we can say that Bacolod City is now in the league of top BPOs in the Philippines and better if we will not only venture in call centers but others in the IT industry like animation, medical transcription, nonvoice and backoffice outsourcing for accountants, etc., Sigue stressed.
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