Professor Guido Dedene, a faculty member of Belgium's Catholic University of Leuven and Netherlands' University of Amsterdam, believes the country's "unique" characteristics make it a more viable outsourcing destination for either United States or Europe. Dedene cited a recent McKinsey study that predicts that by 2011, the US and United Kingdom alone will be capable of "consuming" the outsourcing capacities of India, China and the Philippines. "Majority of companies in Europe, for example, go to either India or China because they simply don't know much about the Philippines," Dedene said
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The Philippines has six times more educated people than India per capita," Dedene said, citing data from the McKinsey study. "In India, outsourcing is present in a few cities. In the Philippines, the entire country can be tapped for BPO (business process outsourcing)." Dedene likewise cited the Filipinos' strong English proficiency and service-oriented nature, often mentioned by BPO investors doing business in the country. "But beyond a good English accent, a key advantage is the fact that the Philippines is a young nation. If we start educating Filipinos now, it will pay off profitably in the future," he said.
One of the staff packs cooled pakaskas (native sweetener made of buri sap) into buri containers. — Dos Palmas of Palawan (Palawan.COM)