Recent years have seen the Philippines grow into a sought-after voice-based destination owing primarily to its abundant English-literate and low-cost workforce. But in light of the global economic downturn, emerging trends reflect a movement up the value curve towards what is called knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) with functions involving greater business complexity, reported the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry.

KPO includes equity and financial research and analytics; business and marketing research and analytics; engineering and design services; and pharmaceutical and research outsourcing. “High value and knowledge-based BPO provides will rise and will be more sought-after since companies around the world will lack the talent, domain expertise and scale to operate their support functions,’’ said Charles Villaseñor, CEO of Transpocure, a wholly-Filipino owned company engaged in global BPO procurement solutions and recipient of the e-Service Awards 2009 for Business Development in BPO. e-Services Awards is an awards program spearheaded by CITEM in recognition of the movers and shakers of the Philippine ICT/BPO scene.