The Philippine outsourcing industry can pull in over 50 billion U.S. dollars by 2020 if the national government is able to develop the information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) services industry, according to a study by World Bank consultant Raja Mitra.
Mitra said in Tuesday’s briefing that medium-term export revenues from the sector could reach far more than 9 billion U.S. dollars revenues posted in 2010. He expects the IT-BPO services industry to contribute as much as 11 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020. In 2010, the industry contributed around 5 percent of GDP.
Mitra said the Philippine potential in the industry has not been met as it lags behind in providing IT-related services and the use of high technology in all its IT-BPO services.
“(It is) important to simultaneously develop the IT, telecom, education and other knowledge economy sectors and to enhance the potential synergies between BPO and other ICT sectors and that so both in terms of extenal and domestic markets. Such a development offers significant promise it can contribute importantly towards achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth,” he said.
Mitra said the outsourcing sector helped in creating more jobs in the country. Direct employment in the sector as a share of the total labor force employment has risen to more than 1 percent from less than 0.1 percent ten years ago. He forecast that Filipinos employed directly and indirectly by the industry will reach 6.8 million by 2020.
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