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DOH wants medicine, support accessible to poor women with breast cancer

Roy — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:46:32 +0000

The Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Cancer Society (PCS) joined hands to launch a program that will allow poor women diagnosed with early stage of breast cancer to have access to medicines and other forms of support. The program hopes to increase the survival rates of breast cancer victims in the Philippines.

Department of Health Secretary Ona said that an awareness campaign should be made to make women realize that breast cancer is a curable disease when detected, treated and managed early. “Cancer is a costly disease, with the cost of medicines and treatment way out of reach for our many countrymen,” he said.

Ona added, “Women must have regular breast examination and never hesitate to go on a medical check-up especially those with lump in the breast before it is too late.”

The health secretary called on women with early stage of breast cancer to enroll in any of the four participating hospitals in Metro Manila. These are: East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC), Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMC), Philippine General Hospital (PGH), and Rizal Medical Center (RMC).

Ona explained further that through a patient navigation scheme, targeted indigent Filipino women should be provided free medicine entitlement and other forms of support. The DOH and PCS partnership will provide P50 million for a year covering 800 patients and will target an initial 1,000 breast cancer patients. He also said that the there was an estimated 12,262 new cases of breast cancer in 2010 and 4,371 died of the said ailment.

The Philippines is among the countries with high incidence of breast cancer cases. Survival rate for breast cancer in the Philippines is below 40 percent compared to the high survival rates of 80 to 98 percent in developed countries.

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Bebeng intensified into a storm

Roy — Sat, 07 May 2011 12:32:56 +0000

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Saturday that tropical depression “Bebeng” has intensified into a storm. According to PAGASA, Bebeng is threatening to hit the Bicol region.

Bebeng was spotted 220 kilometers east of Legaspi City with maximum winds of 65 kilometers per hour near the center as of 4 p.m. Saturday. PAGASA has raised public storm signal no. 2 on the following provinces: Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, and Northern Samar.

The following areas were placed under public storm signal no. 1: Masbate, Ticao Island, Burias Island, Camarines Norte, Quezon, Polillo Island, Aurora, Marinduque, Easter Samar, and Western Samar.

It is expected to be around 69 kilometers northeast of Daet, Camarines Norte on Sunday afternoon, and by Monday, Bebeng is expected to be 110 kilometers north of Baler, Aurora or 70 km south of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMC) advised residents living near rivers and lakes in the northern part of the country to “take appropriate actions.” The NDRMC said that the 26 low-lying areas near the Bicol River Basis are likely to be affected by the slow rise in the water. Flooding may also be possible as basin rainfall will likely be moderate to heavy.

Bebeng has also caused the cancellation of at least six domestic flights in 10 provinces in Northern and Central Philippines. According to the Manila International Airport Authority media affairs division, the cancelled flights included Air Philippines’ flight to and from Catarman. Cebu Pacific also had it flights to and from Catarman cancelled.

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Maggi noodles tested positive for salmonella

Roy — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:21:47 +0000

Nestlé Philippines has voluntarily recalled a number its Maggi instant noodles after some of the tested were tested for possible salmonella contamination. The company said it found traces of salmonella in two batches of the noodle product’s beef variant. “The product recall is a precautionary measure… to ensure the safety and quality of our products,” Nestlé said.

The multinational food manufacturer advised consumers who may have bought Maggi Rich Mami Noodles to contact their hotline at 898-0061 for Metro Manila and 1-800-100-637853 (toll-free) for provincial areas.

Nestlé however said that its products are safe to eat if the cooking instructions properly followed. The batches that were tested positive for salmonella have lot codes 11020598A2 and 11030598A1. The lot code numbers are found at the back of the product pack, between the “Best Before” date and the ingredients list.

Salmonella infections typically affect the intestines, causing vomiting, high fever and abdominal pains. The bacteria can be transmitted from water, soil, animal feces, raw eggs, and raw meat.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) director Suzette Lazo said their office has already been informed regarding the recall. The FDA also posted an advisory on its websites to consumers who may have bought the product with the specified lot codes to return them to the Nestlé office at Nestlé Center, 31 Plaza Drive, Rockwell Center in Makati, or to its licensed distributors.

Lazo said, “According to law, they have to do this (product recall), when they discover that there is something that would be harmful to consumers. They complied with that law and this is a very responsible thing they did.”

She also said their department has made an extensive investigation to determine the cause of the contamination. “Even if it is a voluntary recall, we have to do our own test and get a report from them every day,” Lazo added.

Based on initial findings, the flavor enhancer that comes with the instant noodles in sachet may have caused the salmonella contamination. Said flavor enhancer has also been recalled in the US.

Pending completion of the investigation, Nestlé has temporarily stopped production of all Maggi noodle products.

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DOH says dengue cases may reach 20,000

Roy — Sun, 01 May 2011 06:15:14 +0000

The Department of Health (DOH) reported that the number of dengue cases in the country is almost reaching the 20,000 mark. The report reflected in the National Epidemiology Center (NEC) shows that from January 1 to April 12, the figure reached 17,228 for individuals who have contacted dengue. Said figure is 0.33 percent than the 17,172 cases recorded during the same period in 2010.

Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, DOH program manager for Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases, however said that the number of dengue cases by week in on the decline. “If you look at the figure, it’s going down. That can be expected because it is summer. But the total figure in general is high.”

Lee Suy said the labor department expects that the public may take advantage of the summer time to prepare for expected further increase in dengue cases during the rainy days. He said the public should start getting rid of used tires, empty cans and bottle caps that can hold water, which can become breeding sites of dengue-causing mosquitoes.

The record for this year’s death toll from dengue stands at 12 thus far. For 2010, the total casualties were 36. The highest number of dengue cases this year was from Metro Manila, with a notable increase of 124.93 percent, as it doubles last year’s figure.

Quezon City posted the highest most number of cases, among the cities within Metro Manila, with 815, followed by Manila with 635 and Caloocan City with 584. The most number of deaths from dengue was registered in Valenzuela City with eight, marking the highest in terms of death count in the region.

The highest percentage of increase was posted by Muntinlupa at 745.45 percent, with 93 cases compared to 11 in previous year. Taguig follows with 409.09 percent increase. Central Luzon and Calabarzon posted 3,250 and 3,016 cases respectively.

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Aspiring Entrepreneurs

PinoyBusiness — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:48:08 +0000

When you are a businessman you always want your children to follow your footsteps. You always want them to inherit your family business but in some families the children is forced to inherit it even if they don’t like to enter the business industry. There is also some cases that the child thought that he don’t want to inherit the business but in he end he enjoyed and loved it.

Do every aspiring youth entrepreneurs have what it takes to become successful in the business industry? Well if you have a family that have a good business you surely have a good chances in suceeding in this industry. However, even if you don’t have a family business on your back well that’s ok. In business there are many oppurtunities that will come to you just need to have a patience and work hard for it.

Just like this comming Sept. 27 there will be a summit that will be held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City that will be focusing for the young Filipino entrepreneurs. This will help the young entrepreneurs to establish themselves in the business industry this can also help them to know more about how can you manage well one business and many tips of how to become a sucsessfull businessman.

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The new project of TERADATA Corp.

PinoyBusiness — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:31:53 +0000

Since 2008 the etradata Corp. started to operate in the philippines. And since then they gained countless of customers and some of the known personalities in the field of
business.

Now they are planning to have a new project and the analytics said that Teradata Corp. is planning to expand their business operations and will build the Teradata Global Consulting Center. In the near future they say this will be operational in the first half of 2011 and will be located in Fort Bonifacio Taguig area.

they have choosen the philippines out of many because of many filipino nowadays has a great and efficient english communicating skills and business skills that can help their company.

This project will help the customers to have the data warehouse and the business intelligence more efficient because it will help them on their decisions. This project will also allow teradata to know what demands are growing on data warehousing around the globe.

The local economy will surely have an great impact out of this because of its capital investment and jobs that will be available. They now start to hire a ETL Consultants/Leads, DBA Consultants/Leads, BI Consultants/Leads and Consulting Center Director.

This one will be good news in the business society

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Cognizant announces expansion of operations in the Philippines

Roy — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:18:43 +0000

Cognizant, another world-leading company engaged in the technology, consulting and business process outsourcing (BPO) services is expanding its operations in the Philippines. From its present manpower of approximately 200 employees, the company said its planned expansion will accommodate as much as 600 more personnel.

R Chandrasekaran, president and managing director of Global Delivery, Cognizant said, “Within months of opening our Manila center in October 2009, we have steadily grown our presence and investment in the Philippine capital, and have moved into a larger facility.”

He also said that their Manila center will continue to strengthen their integrated global delivery capabilities. “We are committed to working closely with the academic community in the Philippines to develop talent across our full range of services,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), represented by its president and chief executive officer Oscar Sañez welcomed Cognizant’s expansion in the Philippines.

“We are pleased to see Cognizant expand its operations in the Philippines. As one of the world’s fastest growing consulting technology, and BPO/KPO companies, Cognizant’s deep insight into global best practices earned through its exposure to Global 2000 companies and footprint spanning five continents will help the IT and BPO/KPO industry in the Philippines increase its competitiveness and define newer benchmarks,” Sañez said.

He added, “We thank Cognizant for investing in the Philippines and providing an opportunity for experienced professionals as well as fresh graduates in the country to serve global customers.”

The Cognizant’s Manila office provides high-end operations and contact center business process services to its clients’ worldwide. It also runs on Cognizant 2.0, a Web 2.0-based platform that allows the company associates worldwide to collaborate and deliver important time-to-market, cost and transformational value to its clients.

Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino III also commended the company for providing employment opportunities for Filipino professional. He said Cognizant’s expansion affirms the growing demand for global BPO services currently dominating the business arena.

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Second Philippine-Russia business forum to be held in Cebu

Roy — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:35:20 +0000

The second Philippine-Russian business forum exhibition will be held on October 21 to 24, 2010 and will be hosted by Cebu City. The business forum, which aims to promote tourism, trade, investment and greater economic and socio-cultural exchanges between the Philippines and Russia, will take place at the Cebu International Convention Center (ICC) in Mandaue City. The announcement was made by Philippine Consul to Russia Armi Lopez Garcia.

The forum is organized by the Philippine Russian Business Assembly, Embassy of the Russian Federation and the Philippine Exhibits and Themeparks Corp.

Russian ambassador to the Philippines, Vitaly Vorobiev, said this year’s event promises to be venue that will be useful business groups to network and explore opportunities that will expand trade and investments between the two countries.

Guests and participants the Philippine – Russia forum will be welcomed by Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia. The unveiling of the Leo Tolstoy bust, which will be brought here by the Russian delegates will be one of the highlights of the openings rites on October 21. During the four-day event, a Philippine-Russian trade exhibition will also be featured. The exhibit will have art show, photo exhibit, and cultural dances, which carry the theme: “Moving Forward Together.”

Products and services that are slated to be showcased in the trade exhibition are those related to the following industries: trade promotion and development; tourism and wellness; retirement facilities and real estate development; mining and energy; education and culture; and labor, placement services and outsourcing.

Delegates from both Russia and the Philippines will be composed mostly of investors, real estate developers, businessmen/decision makers, exporters and importers, national government agencies, and local government units. Business sessions and round-round table discussions on the different industries mentioned will also be held simultaneously.

Part of the activities of the four-day event will be a tour to cement factories, food manufacturing plants, development areas, beer brewery, export furniture companies, jewelry makers, and real estate properties, among others, in the whole province of Cebu.

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Energizer plans to put up its own BPO facility

Roy — Thu, 27 May 2010 05:41:47 +0000

One of the leading manufacturer of batteries in the Philippines is considering of putting up its own business process outsourcing facility in the Philippines. The Energizer Philippines Inc., maker of the Eveready and Energizer batteries, plans to put up a call center facilities because according to company president and managing direct Esteban Vorbeck, support for Energizer’s United States customer were currently being performed out of Manila through third-party service providers.

Vorbeck said, “We’re looking at the Philippine BPO sector. We’re thinking of possibly setting up our own facility. We have a number of roles here that are performed for the region. We’re looking at the Philippines as a support or back-office organization. We hope to align the growth of our business with something that’s already been proven.”

If plans push through, the call center facility could either be located in Metro Manila, because of the company’s local headquarters there, or in Cebu where it’s manufacturing facility is located. “The Philippines is a great learning center. You have ease of facility because of the language. It’s easy to communicate here,” Vorbeck said.

Next to its plan of putting up a BPO facility in the country, the company is also conducting research and development on new battery-powered devices that they could introduce in the market to push the sale of batteries in the country. Vorbeck admits that their industry has experienced decline in sales for the past years.

This was attributed to the higher levels of electrification, the onslaught of multi-function or converged devices, improved battery performance, and the introduction of energy-efficient gadgets. But Vorbeck said that they were the things that they need to adjust to. That is why they are taking a more proactive approach to it by introducing battery-powered devices. He did not disclose though as to what type of devices they would be introducing.

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STI plans to get listed after the elections

Roy — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:19:08 +0000

One of the pioneer computer schools in the Philippines, the Systems Technology Institute (STI) Inc. is planning have a public offering and tap the equities market after the May 10 elections. STI plans to raise capital for further expansion.

STI chairman Eusebio Tanco said that they would like STI to be listed after elections to expand its facilities. He said the school had aimed since last year to raise P1 billion to P2 billion from the initial public offering.

“STI really doesn’t have to raise much equity,” Tanco said. “I would like to expand the facilities of STI, especially in the health care since demand is high in this area,” he added.

Aside from conducting an initial public offering (IPO), Mr. Tanco said they also considering other options in getting listed in the stock exchange, such as a backdoor listing or getting listed by way of introduction which does not require them to offer an immediate sale of shares of stock to the public. He was quick to add, however, that no decision has been made yet on what option to pursue.

STI is a private college established in 1983, offering curriculums which include business studies, computer science, education, engineering and health care. The company acquired a stake in the De Los Santos Medical Center in 2006, which is now known as the De Los Santos-STI Medical Center.

Recently, it opened its new academic headquarters at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. STI has the second largest network of colleges in the Philippines today, with around 100 campuses in the country, two in Indonesia and one in Vietnam.

STI have been planning to get listed as early as 2008, but the plan was deferred because of the global economic crunch that started that year.

This year, it is now pursuing again this plan, and in spite of the slowdown in hiring of nurses in the United States, the company would continue to offer nursing courses and plans to expand more in the health care industry.

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Ayala Land to develop a 2-hectare BPO hub in Iloilo

Roy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:13:47 +0000

The property development of the Ayala group will be building a new call center area in the south. The Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is planning to transform a 2-hectare property in Iloilo City into a business process outsourcing (BPO) hub. The project would consist of 3 BPO facilities with a total of 19,000 square meters of gross leasable area.

The company said in its disclosure report to the Philippine Stock Exchange that it signed a 35-year lease agreement with Teodoro B. Pison, Josefina B. Pison-Ortiz, and Riverside Boardwalk Properties Inc. for the development of the 2-hectare property which is located at Riverside Boardwalk, Barangay San Rafael Madurriao in Iloilo City.

Initially, the project would involve the construction of the first building with approximately 9,500 square meters of GLA and an estimated project cost of P305 million. The construction will start on the second quarter of 2010 and it is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2011.

Iloilo City was included in the list of cities identified as “next wave cities” by the Business Process Association of the Philippines because it has an attractive power, telecommunications, commercial sea and airport infrastructure. The city also offers one of the lowest rental, power and average base pay rates in the Philippines.

Ayala officials said, “Ayala Land’s project will be the biggest BPO development in Iloilo to date and is consistent with the company’s goal of expanding into, developing and redeveloping strategic areas with attractive growth centers across the country in order to deliver on the expectations of its customers and shareholders.”

For 2010, the property giant has earmarked P27.2 billion for its capital expenditures. At present, it has lined up 32 projects which include shopping malls, residential condominiums, hotels and office buildings.

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Infosys BPO company plans opening more sites in the Philippines

Roy — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:00:40 +0000

Infosys BPO Ltd. is planning to put up 3 more call center facilities, expanding its presence in the country. The business process outsourcing firm chief operating officer Ritesh Idnani said, “We are very bullish about the Philippines and we will continue to invest in the next few years.”

Idnani said that while their Philippines operations only account for just five to six percent of the company’s entire revenue, they expect it increase to eight to 10 percent in the next 18 to 24 months. The company is also optimistic that it expects its revenues to grow by 100 percent by the end of its fiscal year ending March 2010.

Idnani noted that because of the availability of quality workforce and service areas in the country, the Philippines would remain to be an attractive BPO destination. He added that aside from the area of customer service, but the country is also emerging as a knowledge process outsourcing and legal process outsourcing services.

He is also quick to point out attrition in the country as one of the major challenges of BPO firms. He recommends that BPO agents be registered to monitor proper exits from previous employers. “The top 15 BPO firms must tie up to address attrition,” Idnani said.

Because of its planned expansion, Infosys delivery center head for the Philippines Madhusudan Menon said they would be creating an additional 2,000 jobs this as it eyes new site by the second half of 2010. Areas being considered for their next Philippine site are Quezon City and Clark, Pampanga

The company presently has a 1,100-seat call center facility at Fort Bonifacio, Taguig where it has 650 employees. This would be expanded to include 3,000 seats by next month.

Infosys is a BPO subsidiary of Infosys Technologies.

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Subic marketed as MICE hub

Roy — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:59:29 +0000

The Subic Bay Freeport is fast becoming the country’s center of meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE). This was noted by Department of Tourism Secretary Ace Durano during the opening of the MICECON 2010 held recently.

“Subic opens up a new world for MICE since it offers a very wide array of both man-made and natural facilities for corporate guests who mostly comprise this $300 billion global market, just one percent of which can add $3 billion to our consistently growing tourism dollar receipts,” he said.

Durano said that delegates who attended the said convention are expected to contribute to that goal as they spread the good news about Subic and the Northern Philippines when they return home to their respective countries and clientele.

Participants coming from the Philippines are then poised to step up and adapt their marketing and product development efforts to meet specific global requirements, especially now that MICE is becoming a very popular business tool worldwide.

It was the first time that a MICE event was held north of Manila. Previous conventions were staged in Cebu, Boracay, Davao, Bacolod and Batangas. Durano said the staging of MICECON 2010 in Subic was intended to develop and market the North as another MICE destination outside Manila.

The event was held at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center. It also brought in guest from around the Freeport and along the Subic-Clark corridor. This include Balanga town in Bataan, which is now a popular destination for bird watching.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza who welcomed the guests during Saturday’s opening ceremonies said, “This tour of North Philippines will all the more highlight Subic’ complete amenities for MICE activities as these complement those of its neighboring localities.”

“Moreover, the SBMA maintains a large pool of qualified and English-speaking workforce, mainly from the city of Olongapo and the nearby provinces of Zambales and Bataan,” he added.

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New SM mall in Cebu to rise in 2012

Roy — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:25:52 +0000

The country’s largest operator of mall chains, SM Prime Holdings Inc., is yet on another expansion as it announced its plan to start the construction of its new shopping mall located within the 240-hectare South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu 2010.

According to SM Prime chief financial officer Jeffrey Lim, the proposed shopping center will be having a gross floor area of 250,000 square meters, which make it the biggest the retail complex in Visayas and Mindanao. He said that the proposed shopping mall would be a smaller version of the 60-hectare Mall of Asia complex along Roxas Boulevard.

For the proposed mall in Cebu, the company has earmarked at least P20 billion in investment over the next 15-year period for a mixed-used development project at SRP which will also house a convention center, hotels, high-rise residential condominiums, school and a hospital. SM Prime offered to acquire the 28-hectare property within the SRP for P11,000 per square meter, or approximately P3 billion. The said property is a land reclamation project by the Cebu City government.

For this year, SM Prime will be opening five new malls in the country and one in China, where it will be spending P12.1 in total investments. Scheduled to be open this year are Calamba, Laguna; Masinag, Antipolo; Tarlac; Novaliches and San Pablo, Laguna.

The company also plans to open three new malls in Chonggqing, Suzhou, and Zibo, China, which are targeted to be opened between 2010 and 2012. Presently, it has three existing malls in China – SM Xiamen, Jinjiang and Chengdu.

SM Prime is targeting to have a total of 41 malls before the end of 2010, with a total gross floor area of 4.5 to 4.8 million square meters. Its malls are presently enjoying foot traffic of over 2.5 million per day.

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New call center in Bacolod City

Roy — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:04:48 +0000

In Bacolod City, another business process outsourcing firm will be setting up office by the middle of the year. Panasiatic Call Center Inc. brings to eight the number of call centers in the city who have provided more than 7,000 jobs.

Company chief operating officer Nabil Edmon Salamouni said they will be opening the call center this year which would have 800 seats. They expect to open this June. The new facility, which will have 2-storey, has an area of 2,500 meters, and just about 200 meters away from the Bacolod City Government Center.

Salamouni said that the call center is just part of a series of many projects or business that they will have in the city, adding that Bacolod is important to them and he himself is planning to settle there.

Panasiatic has chosen Bacolod because they believe that it has reached the stage where it is going to develop rapidly, and the city has a very competent and educated workforce. “It also has a business and political community which is geared up to channeling that energy in order to start creating something that, hopefully, will bring you up to the level of maybe the third city in the Philippines within the next 20 years,” Salamouni said.

The opening of Panasiatic in Bacolod City was made even though the Commission on Communications and Information technology has warned that the city is already saturated as far as call centers are concerned.

The new investment elates Bacolod City Mayor Everlio Leonardia, who said that it will only inspire them all the more to see to it that they are able to cope up with the fast growth that the city is experiencing.

Bacolod City is also included in the list of 10 next wave cities in the IT. It was also adjudged as the Most Business Friendly City in the Philippines by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce.

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US BPO firm opens office in the Philippines

Roy — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:54:31 +0000

A new business process outsourcing (BPO) firm has chosen the Philippines as the location of its latest service center. US-based Cybernet-Slash Support (CSS) recently opened its 1,000-seat facility in Taguig, its first Philippine site and currently has 400 employees. CSS said the new facility will be used for the company’s outbound sales, technology and other integrated BPO services for clients in North America. It plans to increase the number of employees in Philippines to around 2,000 people by the end of 2010. The company said it is in line with the company’s aspiration to emerge as a strong player in the country’s BPO space.

CSS’s chief executive Nick Sharma said they choose the Philippines as the site of its newest facility because of the “highly conducive” business atmosphere and talent pool of experienced BPO professionals. “The Philippines has emerged as one of the key global hubs for the BPO industry,” Sharma said. And thus, they felt that now is the most opportune time to expand their capabilities in the Philippines and extend their “portfolio of superior, effective support services to customers.”

Sharma said that CSS have committed $15 million in its budget to develop their business in the Philippines, and see it as their biggest facility in three to four years time.

They would be planning to hire mostly computer-related or engineering graduates who will be expected to provide their clients with both technical and customer support. Most of their clients are in the information technology, retail and healthcare sectors.

With its based located in San Jose, California, the company employs around 4,000 people working out of its global operations centers in India, the US, Poland and now, the Philippines. American telecommunications giant Alcatel-Lucent and tech firm Sun Microsystems & Blackboard Inc. are just two of the big-ticket clients of CSS.

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More jobs from UST Global

Roy — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:43:24 +0000

UST Global inaugurated recently its new offshore development center in McKinley Hills, Taguig City. The new center is part of the company’s aggressive expansion plans in Asia, and is targeting to haul in $32 million revenues in its first year and catering to 2,000 clients in North America and Europe.

California-based UST Global is one of the world leader in information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO). Recognizing that the Philippines is an emerging destination for IT outsourcing, the company is hiring around 1,000 IT Filipino professionals at their new office in the next 12 months. That is just the first part of their expansion. The company plans to increase its local workforce to more than 5,000 IT professional in the next few years.

President Arroyo, who was there to grace the inauguration said in her speech, “We believe that we need to focus on three areas to develop IT in Philippines; connectivity infrastructure, policies and good business environment, and human resource development. We have half a million jobs created in the BPO space and it our time to move to the next level of value-added services, that’s IT. We thank UST Global for investing in the Philippines and providing opportunities for Filipino nationals both experiences as well as fresh graduates thereby increasing our competitiveness.”

UST Global president Joe Nalkara said, “We zeroed in on the Philippines because of the highly skilled and refined work culture we’ve observed here. This is a perfect match with the style of functioning we follow elsewhere in our centers.” Nalkara predicts that the Philippines center will be a strategically significant geographical and business locations for the growing Asian presence of UST Global.

UST Global is part of the $6-billion Comcraft group. The company, who’s now 10 years old, employs 7,000 employees in Asia, Europe and North America. It focuses on the Fortune 500/Global 1000 market, specifically catering to Healthcare, Retail and Consumer Goods, Utilities, Entertainment and Media, Manufacturing, Banking and Financial Services, and transportation and logistics.

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Convergys gears up for expansion this year

Roy — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:55:25 +0000

Convergys Corp., one of the leading business process outsourcing (BPO) company in the Philippines is gearing up for expansion this year, one of the main reason is that more clients are requesting that their accounts be handled by Philippines sites.

The company is looking to hire about 6,000 more employees this year , nationwide, in order to serve the growing “relationship management” requirements of their clients who specifically ask for Philippine sites to handle their accounts, said Maribe B. Zamora, Convergys vice-president and country manager for the Philippines.

Convergys, which operates 12 sites in the country and employing some 20,000 call center workers, recently had their recruitment fair in Cebu. Convergys vice-president for operations Stephen Daoust said that there was a strong interest in Cebu sites, especially after storms devastated Metro Manila and disrupted operations there last year. “Some clients are looking to come into Cebu because it’s outside the typhoon belt,” he said.

For their Cebu operations, the company will be adding 377 more seats at the i3 building in Asiatown IT Park, this year. The i3 site, which is Convergys’ third in Cebu, opened early last year and it has over 600 workstation spread across three floor. This year, they will be occupying three more floors. The building also houses their recruitment center.

The other centers by Convergys in Cebu are the i2 building which started operations April 2007 and Banawa, which was their first in Cebu and opened on November 2004.

During their recent recruitment fair in Cebu, Convergys tied up with Bench. The event featured a fashion show and concert, to attract potential employees in the 21-26 age range. The company intended to fill around 640 new position that were made available as a result of additional workload going to Cebu.

“This is a new approach that allows us to stay one step ahead of the competition in terms of recruitment efforts. The good thing about Cebu is that it’s attracting employees from other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao as well,” Zamora said.

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Tourism leaders gather in Subic in February

Roy — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:18:23 +0000

The Philippines will once again be host to an international event that will see delegates from different countries coming here next month. The event is called the Philippine MICE Conference (MICE stands for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) and it will be attended to by different tourism leaders worldwide. It will be held at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center on February 4 to 7.

According to Tourism Undersecretary Edu Jarque, the conference chairman, participants in the conference will be discussing the current market situation and the business opportunities for the $300-billion global MICE industry.

Activities in the MICE Conference includes an Amazing MICE Race, leaders’ forum, Educational Tracks for MICE Mates, market seminars, business networking, and bid presentations of future conference hosts. The gathering of tourism leaders is organized by the Department of Tourism, with the help of its marketing arm, the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp.

Some of those who are expected to participate in the MICE Conference are Mina Gabor (World Tourism Organization consultant and former tourism secretary), Gregory Duffel (Pacific Asia Travel Association CEO), Yeoh Siew Hoon (Web in Travel producer and SHY Ventures editor at large), Martin Sirk (CEO of the International Congress and Convention Association or Icca), Anthony Wong (Asian Overland Services group managing director), Paul Flackett (Regent Exhibitions managing director), and Imtiaz Muqbil (Travel Impact Newswire executive editor), along with other tourism and MICE leaders.

Those who want to get more information regarding the MICE Conference can call the secretariat’s office at (02) 525-9318 loc 233 or (02) 525-6610. Emails can also be sent at phil.MICEconference@gmail.com or cit@dotpcvc.gov.ph or visit their website at www.dotpcvc.gov.ph

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BPO sector prepares for the challenge of the new decade

Roy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:40:37 +0000

In the year 2010, the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, is seen to continue growing as it marks its 10th year in the Philippines. For this year, BPO is expected to earn at least $11 billion and continue employing over one million people in the country. But while the sector is optimistic, it also needs to keep itself updated to meet fresh challenges in the onset of a new decade.

Jon Kaplan, President of TeleDevelopment Services (TDS), acknowledges the challenge and said, “This is a big year for the BPO industry as it signifies the 10th year anniversary of call centers in the country.” He added, “As we approach this milestone, it is necessary to evaluate and carefully map our plans for our continued development. We need to resolve training challenges for a more specialized workforce to addressing the increasing demand for high-value and value-added services.”

In the past, voice services helped spurred the growth of the call center industry in the country, however in the years to come, complex services like the knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), are expected to be the sector’s next revenue earners. Kaplan said that all allied sectors of BPO should be prepared and develop the talent, technology, and the infrastructure to meet the new challenges.

Kaplan noted that the upcoming Annual Call Center and BPO Training Convention will be a good venue to discuss all these challenges and help all industry players to prepare for it. His company, TDS, will be organizing this year’s convention, in cooperation with marketing communication firm TeamAsia. The convention, which is now on its 4th year, will have “The Vision of the Next Decade: Conquering Uncharted Ground” for its theme. It will be held in March 11 to 12, at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

The convention will be attended by players from the BPO sectors as well as those from their allied sectors.