The potentials in outsourcing in the Philippines are already recognized worldwide. The reasons are language fluency, high skills and low costs. India has dominated the Business Process Outsourcing industry for a long time. But now, there’s a new player in the field that has raised the bar for BPO standards.

Like many other neighboring Asian countries, the Philippines offer low costs for their highly skilled professionals. The core reasons of outsourcing. And India has long been the premier outsourcing destination. Even China is now entering the outsourcing scene. But the Philippines’ distinctive advantages over other outsourcing Asian countries are the fluency of the spoken language and familiarity with the principal country. This is the reason why call centers for US based companies are abundant in the country. Philippine history tells us that the country was colonized by the Americans for years. Filipinos and Americans fought side-by-side in the 2nd World War against the Japanese invasion. Even the education system was patterned after that of the Americans. That is why Filipinos’ spoken and written English are more “American-ized”. Another example, in outsourcing legal services, Co-president of an Indian-based firm and a native New Yorker John Sigelman said, “As an American colony (the Philippines), there is cultural affinity and the legal system is based on U.S. law. In Manila, every lawyer seems to know what Roe vs. Wade was about. In Chennai (a town in India), they may have some of the finest brains in the world but not everyone has heard about Roe vs. Wade or other key cases in the U.S. Supreme Court.” He was also amazed by the depth of design talent in Manila. He said that this talent is hard to come by in Bangalore or Chennai.

It is true that in the early years of the new millennium, there were speculations whether the Philippines can become a key player in the BPO industry. But now it has grown to a $3 billion industry, and still growing! And a report from a U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs said, “The pace of development of the BPO (sector) in the Philippines has been impressive. It is clear that the Philippines is now very much on the global map for outsourcing.”

Currently, outsourcing companies and satellite offices are sprouting from Manila to other areas of the country. And the expansion is not because there is an increase in the demand for call centers, but more sophisticated and high-skilled services like website design, medical transcription, software development, animation, seo services and legal services. This means that the US and other countries are finding talent not only in the capital city, where majority of the technology and businesses are located.

Is it appropriate to conclude that the Filipinos, in general are highly skilled and talented, wherever they are? Is it enough to consider the Philippines as a more desirable destination for outsourced projects?

R. Stanton is a freelance writer and Internet enthusiast based in the US

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