Philippine BPOs Court New Markets to Cut US Reliance

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry is actively working to diversify beyond its traditional market in the United States, targeting new opportunities in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Europe. This strategic shift aims to reduce the industry's heavy reliance on the U.S. market, which is increasingly focused on reshoring jobs. Under a four-point plan, the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) is intensifying efforts to attract companies from markets such as Australia, Japan, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom. This initiative comes as Washington pushes for domestic job creation through legislation like the "Keep Call Centers in America Act" and the "Halting International Relocation of Employment Act." "Companies no longer choose locations based solely on cost. They choose places that can deliver resilience, capability, and depth of talent. That is where the Philippines competes today," stated Jack Madrid, the outgoing president and CEO of IBPAP. He extended an invitation to global companies to build their future endeavors in the Philippines. IBPAP specifically aims to target mid-market enterprises and organizations within the banking, financial services, insurance, and healthcare sectors. To court investors from these priority markets, the industry group plans to conduct roadshows, executive briefings, speaking engagements, and tailored business development activities. The association also seeks to attract further investment in global capability centers (GCCs), which are strategic units of multinational companies providing services like IT, finance, customer service, and research and development to support global operations. The Philippines aims to enhance its edge in healthcare services, including clinical support, revenue cycle management, health technology, and patient services, while simultaneously expanding its capabilities in banking, insurance, fintech, payments, risk, and compliance. IBPAP emphasized that it will not pursue this growth plan in isolation, but will collaborate with advisory firms, real estate partners, banking institutions, and investment promotion agencies to bolster investment attraction from its priority markets. Ultimately, the plan seeks to help the Philippine IT-BPM industry achieve its "best-case" scenario of $50.5 billion in revenues by 2028, a revised target from its earlier projection of $59 billion. The IBPAP is also aiming to grow the industry's workforce to 2.14 million by 2028.