ILOILO CITY (PNA) – The province and city of Iloilo continue to become competitive as an information technology (IT) hub, according to Engr. Wilhelm Malones, Provincial Director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Malones said Iloilo was adequately promoted during the Metro-Iloilo Guimaras Investment Forum held in Metro Manila last year, where presentations on the “number of endowments the city and the province has, particularly on their power supply” were made.

He added that Iloilo’s power supply problem has already been addressed with the construction of the Global Business Power Corporation (GPBC)’s coal-fired power plant which is slated to become operational within the year.

As a result of that forum, Malones said Iloilo was able to invite Transcom Asia, now in the process of relocation on the second floor of the Amigo Plaza Mall and which is presently now hiring call center agents.

Malones added that the problem with space can very well be addressed once the Pazuela, a new commercial center being constructed along Iloilo City’s Diversion Road is completed.
The second floor of said center is designed to cater to business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, he said.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas also informed that the Ayala Group of Companies will likewise be establishing an IT Park near the Smallville Complex; this IT enclave is expected to become operational this November.

“I am certain that once these buildings are ready, more call center agents will be working here than in any other center in Western Visayas,” Treñas said.

Meantime, with the help of the Iloilo Federation for Information Technology (I-FIT), the city continues to produce competitive graduates every year. Iloilo produces some 18,000 graduates annually.

“There have been attempts by the I-FIT to improve the competence of students relative to the demand of IT to include not only voice but also software development and medical transcription,” he said.

Since its inception, the IT industry has already employed some 3,500 agents and is expected to increase to 4,000 before the end of the year.

Wednesday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, along with Commissioner Rey Anthony Chua of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) was in Iloilo to check on the progress of the local IT industry here.

This city has been identified one of the country’s Next Wave Cities with human resource as its strongest indicator.