PHILIPPINES WON BRITISH AWARD FOR BEST OFFSHORING  DESTINATION   FOR 2007

 24 October 2007—The Philippine Embassy in London reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Philippines was judged as the Best Offshoring Destination of the Year at the 4^th United Kingdom National Outsourcing Association (NOA) Awards, which was held in London on 18 October. Philippine Honorary Trade and Investment Representative Vic Casim received the  award on behalf of the Philippine Government. The Philippines was nominated by the European Chamber of Commerce (ECC). The previous year, RP was a runner-up for the same award.  The other finalists for 2007 were Malta, Sri Lanka, and the Russian Federation. The affair was attended by almost five hundred of the most influential people in the outsourcing industry.   

NOA is the UK’s only outsourcing trade association. The annual awards have become a landmark for the acceptance of outsourcing as a legitimate business practice, in recognition of the efforts of those who have shown excellence in the field of outsourcing. 

The investment atmosphere offered by the Philippines drew favorable comments from the Board of Judges, specifically on significant improvements concerning infrastructure and trade incentives.

Bagging the NOA award puts the Philippines firmly as a global player in the offshoring marketplace. It will also boost its attractiveness as a premier offshoring location for the 21^st century. A prestigious consulting firm, Frost and Sullivan, cited the Philippines as one of the 10 best destination countries for outsourcing.

Over the last decade, the Philippines has emerged as a top business process outsourcing (BPO) location in the Asia-Pacific region due to cost advantage, its English–speaking work force, highly skilled manpower, and excellent infrastructure for off-shoring operations in all fields, including a high quality fibre optic network. It also provides access to the vital and attractive ASEAN market of 567 million people.

The Philippine National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reports that the total number of workers employed in the BPO will reach 1 million in 2010, up from this year’s 343,013. Of the number forecast, the call center sub-sector share is anticipated to be 331,000.

The BPO industry is expected to generate a gross revenue of more than US 12 billion by 2010 from roughly US $3 billion in 2006. END.