Under the CBI Export Development Program for the Philippine BPO Industry, select BPO firms are given assistance to enhance their service capabilities. The program is being implemented by the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (BETP).

"We are encouraging our BPO companies to take advantage of this very rare opportunity as an initial step towards getting a foothold and capturing a sizeable market of European companies planning to outsource offshore," he said.

CBI has also an existing export promotion partnership program with the DTI in the areas of auto parts, engineering and natural ingredients.

Companies that will be selected to participate in the BPO Program will be provided by CBI with technical assistance, outsourcing audit, and training; market information of the European Union and registration to the EuroITX.com that will post the BPO company’s profile, logo, visibility; EXPRO seminar in Rotterdam; co-financing of quality certification; and assistance in conducting marketing activities in Europe.

BPO operations in the country include financial services, administrative and payroll, logistics, services such as medical and legal transcription and animation, and engineering services.

CBI experts led by Laszlo Klucs, and Harry van Geijn are currently in the country to conduct company visits and business meetings with the country’s BPO firms interested in rendering IT-enabled services to European companies.

Klucs and Geijn are bullish with the potential of the BPO sector in the Philippines, taking note of wide variety of BPO services and quality of firms that they met. They initially recommended several firms to participate in the program. The CBI will make the final selection after assessments of the Philippines, India and South Africa have been concluded.

The companies that were introduced to Klucs and Geijn are engaged in a wide array of BPO businesses including: digital printing, data conversion/ medical transcription, data processing, medical transcription, financial services (finance and accounting, payroll and benefits administration), animation, data conversion, document imaging, IT outsourcing, digital 3D modeling and imaging and architectural/ construction designs, logistics management, and human resource development.

Prior to the company visits and business meetings, Klucs and Geijn also conducted a seminar among BPO companies to discuss an overview of the key outsourcing trends in Europe; the outsourcing process; why European companies outsource offshore; offshore outsourcing risks; outsourcing vendor selection; and prospects for BPO companies to participate in CBI’s BPO Program.

To date, the Philippines hosts many registered BPO operators, mostly third-party contractors serving global accounts. Their services range from data base management, insurance claims processing to logistics management and sales and marketing.

Some of the world’s most recognized brands Caltex, Procter & Gamble and AIG chose the Philippines as their offshore outsourcing destination. World leaders in business consulting like PriceWaterhouse Coopers, KPMG Consultancy, Deloitte Touche, Tohmatsu and Ernst and Young are also operating in the country.(BCM)