News and Articles on Office Space in the Philippines

How to Open a Representative Office in the Philippines

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:52:00 -0700

Registering or Starting a Representative Office

A Representative Office is foreign corporation organized and existing under foreign laws. It does not derive income from the host country and is fully subsidized by its head office. The Representative Office deals directly with clients of the parent company as it undertakes such activities as information dissemination, acts as a communication center and promotes company products, as well as quality control of products for export. A Representative Office in the Philippines is required to have an initial minimum inward remittance in the amount of US$30,000.00 to cover its operating expenses and must be registered with SEC .

Under RA 8756, any multinational company may establish a Regional Headquarters (RHQ) or Regional Operating Headquarters (ROHQ) as long as they are existing under laws other than the Philippines, with branches, affiliates and subsidiaries in the Asia Pacific Region and other foreign markets.

If you have further questions in regards to setting up a business in the Philippines, we suggest talking to the experts at Kittelson & Carpo Consulting.

IPVG's IP Contact Center gets PEZA certification

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:46:00 -0700

IP-Contact Center Outsourcing Inc. (IPCCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of publicly listed information technology and communications company IPVG Corp., was recently certified as an economic zone I.T. Enterprise by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

IPCCO focuses mainly on BPO activities, handling all of IPVG group's customer service requirements out of its primary site in Makati City. Early this year, IPCCO through IPVG signed an agreement with PCCW Teleservices to extend the latter's contact center and telecommunication solutions and to service primarily North American clients from the Philippines.

According to Enrique Gonzalez, IPVG CEO, having the company PEZA-certified has always been an integral part of the company's over-all plan, with specific focus on building their business and at the same time ramping up their facilities.

"As a PEZA-registered company, we can now enjoy both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives that come with the certification, which includes incentives granted to exporters such as exemption from importation duties and national taxes," explained Gonzalez. "In addition to these incentives, accredited PEZA zones also have more reliable infrastructure covering power, physical structure and telecommunications, which are mission critical components to our operations."

The accreditation likewise places IPCCO on a level playing field with its fellow players in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and contact center space.

"We can now operate our contact center in the Philippines under a globally competitive regulatory regime," added Gonzalez.

ADVANTAGE

With the PEZA certification on hand, Gonzalez said that customers can expect IPCCO to provide world-class services at very competitive rates.

"PEZA establishes the Philippines as a globally competitive hub for outsourcing. A globally competitive location is key for any operator that targets the global market and taps into the off-shoring of services," he said.

PEZA promotes the establishment of world class, environment friendly economic zones (ecozones) all over the country to respond to demands for ready-to-occupy locations for foreign investments.

IPCCO is a wholly owned subsidiary of IPVG. IPCCO provides support on the aspects of local talent pool and facilities to enable PCCW Teleservices to extend its contact center and telecommunications solutions in the Philippines to service North American clients.

Contact Center Brokers

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:06:00 -0700

Manila, Philippines -- KMC Realty has recently gotten into the contact center broker business. KMC Realty has relationships with many of the call centers and BPO companies in Metro-Manila, Philippines including Makati, Ortigas and Fort Bonifacio since we helped them acquire office space.

Due to the recent global economical crisis there a number of small and medium size call centers / contact centres and BPO companies that have recently lost clients from the US and other Western countries. As a result, their operational expenses are starting to exceed their revenues. Some of these distressed call centers/contact centres are looking to acquisition, partnerships, additional investment or joint ventures with other companies interested in setting up operations in Metro-Manila and other parts of the Philippines.

"This is a fantastic way to enter the Contact Center market in the Philippines. Especially since you can acquire equipment for $0.10 to $0.20 on the $1." says Manila Office Space's President Michael McCullough.

To learn more about Contact Center acquisition, contact the director of the Contact Center Acquisition Team, Rachelle Abella (rachelle at manilaofficespace.com) for more information.

Cyber, IT and Business Parks

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:21:00 -0700

Cyber Parks, IT Parks, Business Parks and technology buildings are starting to sprout up in business districts around Metro-Manila, Philippines in places like Makati, Ortigas, Fort Bonifacio and Eastwood. Some of the Philippines' larger real estate developers have responded to the massive BPO and call center growth and have built buildings specific for this industry. These IT buildings and cyber parks rival the technology and quality of IT buildings in cyber parks in the US.

Makati is still the mecca of talent, call centers and BPO companies. However, many BPO and call centers are starting to move out of high-priced Makati's Ayala Ave and the CBD to take advantage of the less expensive rents in buildings which are designed for BPO and call centers in other parts of Metro-Manila.

One of the 1st cyber parks is in Fort Bonifacio, which is comprised mainly of the Net Group buildings. However, most buildings are usually at 100% occupancy. The floors of the Net Group's newer buildings were even sold out before they were built. Hence, a clear indication of the success of these facilities. This success paved the way for the cyber parks in near by McKinley Hills in Taguig City and more.

Cyber, Business & IT Parks & Buildings

Eastwood Cyber Park - Libis City
Araneta Center Cyber Park - Quezon City
McKinley Hill Cyber Park - Taguig City
Newport City - Pasay City
EDSA Central IT Park - Mandaluyong City
Robinsons Cybergate Center (RCC)
SM Central Business Park - Bay City, Pasay City
SM Call Center Building
Aseana IT Business Park

BPO firms urged to tap European market

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:46:00 -0700

An advisory company on outsourcing is urging Filipino firms to tap Europe as a market for business process outsourcing (BPO), especially with the euro gaining strength against the US dollar.

In a statement, the Department of Trade and Industry quoted David Barrett, chief executive of Procuritas Ltd., as saying that Europe is now a larger market than North America and is growing fast. Barrett noted that the United Kingdom alone accounts for 20 percent of the world market.

Shifting currency exposure to euro at this time minimizes the foreign exchange risks faced by BPO firms, Barrett said.

"Clearly, the Philippine BPO industry is going from strength to strength and local companies are making great stride. There's plenty of opportunity to work with Philippine companies to address penetration in these markets," said Barrett.

According to Barrett, Europe, particularly the UK, has a high outsourcing penetration. He said 44 percent of European companies outsource their information technology requirements. These companies also outsource 56 percent of their financial services.

"With the growing dynamism in UK's outsourcing market, the Philippines has a lot to gain."

Procuritas is engaged in advisory service specializing in deal engineering for the sourcing of technology and business services.

RP's top 25 contact centers post P68.5B revenue for 2007

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:39:00 -0700

The country's 25 leading operators reported P68.5 billion, or $1.67 billion, in aggregate revenues last year, House information and communications technology committee chair Joseph Santiago said Sunday.

The P68.5 billion in combined revenues translated to $1.67 billion at the end of the 2007 exchange rate of $1: P41.14.

"This gives us a better sense as to how large the contact center sector, which is driving the broader business process outsourcing industry, has become," he said in a statement.

According to Santiago, this was the first time that they have managed to put together reported revenues from the largest players in the contact center sector.

He pointed out, however, that the amount does not cover the entire contact sector. Because their 2007 revenues were not readily available, other companies were not included in the list.

The following are the top 25 contact center operators and their corresponding revenues for 2007:

1.eTelecare Global Solutions Inc. (P7.1 billion);
2. Sykes Asia Inc. (P6.4 billion);
3. PeopleSupport Philippines Inc. (P6.1 billion);
4. Convergys Philippines Services Corp. (P6 billion);
5. HSBC Electronic Data Processing Philippines Inc. (P3.6 billion);
6. ICT Marketing Services Inc. (P3.6 billion);
7. Telus International Philippines Inc. (P3.3 billion);
8. IBM Business Services Inc. (P2.7 billion);
9. Advanced Contact Solutions Inc. (P2.6 billion);
10. Telephilippines Inc. (P2.5 billion);
11. ClientLogic Corp. (P2.5 billion);
12. Dell International Services Philippines Inc. (P2.4 billion);
13. INFONXX Philippines Inc. (P2.3 billion);
14. Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd. (P2 billion);
15. Cyber City Teleservices Philippines Inc. (P1.9 billion);
16. APAC Customer Services Inc. (P1.8 billion);
17. Parlance Systems Inc. (P1.6 billion);
18. JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. Philippine Customer Care Center (P1.5 billion);
19. ePerformax Contact Centers Corp. (P1.5 billion);
20. Sitel Customer Care Philippines Inc. (P1.4 billion);
21. West Contact Services Inc. (P1.3 billion);
22. Hinduja TMT Ltd. (P1.2 billion);
23. Sutherland Global Services Philippines Inc. (P1.1 billion);
24. Synnex-Concentrix Corp. (P1.1 billion);
25. Vocativ Systems Inc. (P1 billion)

OFWs displaced by crisis should try BPO jobs: experts

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:34:00 -0700

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who may be affected by job cuts caused by the global economic slowdown can be tapped as workers for the business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, industry experts said.

During the second day of the BPO Summit Philippines 2008, experts said that OFWs, particularly those who will lose their jobs and will return to the Philippines, can be trained to be potential workers for outsourcing companies.

“This is an option for OFWs, especially because of the job cuts resulting from the global economic slowdown,” said Commissioner Monchito Ibrahim of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology.

The Department of Labor and Employment recently said that around 50,000 OFWs may lose their jobs as a result of mass lay offs and job cuts triggered by the US-led financial crisis.

“We want them to go back because there are jobs waiting for them in the BPO industry,” Ibrahim told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak referring to Filipino migrant workers who may be affected by retrenchment and cost-saving measures of companies in other countries.

“Most OFWs speak English while they are in other countries and they just need to go through finishing schools to improve their accent,” Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim added that a number of OFWs have either reached or finished college education and are qualified to work for the BPO firms.” There are many OFWs that are qualified to work not only in call centers but in other sub sectors of the BPO industry.”

Industry experts are saying that the returning OFWs can be retrained and tapped because some of them have backgrounds in accounting and engineering and can be hired by BPO firms offering finance and accounting, and engineering services.

Grace Sorongon, vice president and managing director of human resources consulting firm John Clements Consultant Inc, said that there is a potential for overseas workers in Hong Kong.

“We can tap them and some of our workers there are probably speaking Mandarin and Cantonese,” Sorongon said, adding that there is a demand for workers who can speak more than one language.

Open to OFWs

Jamea Garcia, executive director for talent development of the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP), said that the industry is ready to accommodate returning OFWs who have the skills they need since there is a huge demand for workers in the BPO industry.

The BPO industry employs around 300,000 workers and generates almost US$5 billion revenues as of 2007. Industry experts are targeting US$13 billion revenues and a million workers in 2010.

BPO firms, however, have been complaining of high turnover rate and low recruitment yield due to lack of applicants who are proficient in English.

“We are open to the possibility of hiring them as long as they are qualified,” Garcia told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak

Alternative to going abroad

Industry experts also say that the BPO industry can help stop the brain drain happening to the Philippines as Filipino professionals leave the country to seek for greener pastures abroad.

Fred Ayala, president of the BPAP, said Tuesday that diverse career opportunities from the non-voice sector of the BPO industry is an alternative to going abroad.

“Non-voice sector needs our nurses, accountants, lawyers, editors, human resource managers, engineers and financial analysts,” Ayala said.

The non-voice sector of the BPO industry includes medical and legal transcription, financial and accounting services, enginnering, animation, software development and human resources services.

JP Morgan adds 6,000 seats to BPO facility in RP

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 04:51:00 -0700

JP Morgan Chase & Co. is expanding its business process outsourcing (BPO) operations in the country with 6,000 seats next year.

This brings the total number of seats to 8,400 by the end of 2009 from the existing 2,400 seats.

According to Barry Marshall, vice president and senior country operations for global solutions, the additional seats will be located at the Net Plaza in Fort Bonifacio. The acquisition of JP Morgan of American thrift bank Washington Mutual (WaMu), he said, expanded and diversified the services of BPO offices in Manila.

The existing 1,400 seats are located at the company's newly opened BPO center at the Net Quad, also in Fort Bonifacio. The remaining 1,000 seats are already operating in Philamlife Tower in Makati City since 2003.

The country has been servicing JP Morgan Chase's global clientele for the past three years, from simple data entry to complex voice services. Between 2006 and 2007, Marshall said that JP Morgan Chase's BPO operations in the country have grown 300 percent.

Despite the financial crisis and the US recession, Marshall said that there are many opportunities in store for the country, whether captive or outsourced operations.

At present, JP Morgan Chase is the emerging top bank in the United States, and has operated in the Philippines for more than four decades.The company acquired Bear Stearns Companies Inc. as well as the assets of WaMu, which was earlier bought by the US government.

BPO industry in Mindanao suffers from MILF attacks

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:56:00 -0700

The clashes between the government troops and the rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were isolated in several provinces in Mindanao, but it is the entire region that is paying for it.

The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is suffering, particularly in the industrialized cities of Davao and Cagayan De Oro, because of the negative perception due to the volatile peace situation. It scares away investors, industry experts told Newsbreak.

“There is a huge potential because of the huge number of talents in Davao and Cagayan de Oro, but it is difficult to convince [the investors to come] because of the perception that Mindanao is not peaceful,” said Jamea Garcia, executive director for talent development of the Business Process Association of the Philippines.

Another source disclosed that two BPO firms, who were close to finalizing their plans to locate in Mindanao, backed out when the clashes between the military and rebels erupted in August due to the aborted signing of the Moro homeland accord.

This is unfortunate because the region has made strides in attracting the multinational BPO companies away from established outsourcing hubs like Metro Manila and Cebu.

Other Mindanao cities—General Santos, Dipolog, and Zamboanga—have also been gearing to benefit from the growing industry.

Even with the global financial crisis, the BPO industry remains to be one of the sunshine industries of the country. While industry growth is expected to be slower than previous years, experts say the BPO companies will keep their operations in the Philippines. The recession in the US would force more companies to cut cost by outsourcing some of their functions to countries with cheap labor, they said.

With or without the global financial crisis, the BPO companies are keen in finding new hubs, said Commissioner Monchito Ibrahim of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

Lease rates for a prime office rate in Makati has increased by 250 percent from 2005 to 2007. More importantly, the universities in the Mindanao region offer a new pool of possible recruits.

The BPO companies in Manila are suffering from depleted human resources resulting in poaching among companies.

Citing data from the Commission on Higher Education, Ibrahim said that 74 percent of the 400,000 graduates come from outside Metro Manila.

“NCR has only 25 percent of the country’s graduating population but 80 percent of the outsourcing jobs,” Ibrahim said.

The rest of Luzon produce 124,000 graduates a year while Mindanao and Visayas has 89,000. and 84,000, respectively.

RP's BPO industry to grow despite economic downturn: exec

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:53:00 -0700

Growth prospects for the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry remain bright despite a general slowdown in the global economy.

In fact, the industry is right on track in achieving its revenue target of $7 billion for 2008 and $12 to $13 billion by 2010, according to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP).

BPAP chief executive Oscar Sañez noted that in order to hit the 2010 target, which translates to a 10 percent share of the total projected global industry revenue pie, the Philippine BPO sector needs to grow by an average 40 percent annually. He said the country has steadily met this requirement in the past three years.

The BPAP expects an industry growth of 35 to 40 percent this year.

Sañez said the Philippines continues to have an advantage as more companies overseas transfer their operations here to save money.

"Existing clients and potential clients are looking for bigger cost-saving solutions, and the Philippines has become a very good option, next to India," he said.

To ensure growth, the BPO sector has been moving away from the saturated Metro Manila sphere, diversifying into other provinces such as Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan De Oro.

The local BPO sector currently has a portfolio of about 450,000 seats compared to less than 1,000 in 2005. Sañez said they hope to increase this number exponentially by 2010, by securing partnerships with both the public and private sectors.

"The BPAP is now all about partnerships, to get stakeholders in the private sector and government to be prepared for the expected demand so that when the companies come here, we will be ready for them."