Dutch financial giant ING is positioning to grow its shared services hub in the Philippines, unfazed by doomsday jitters in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry arising from headwinds in the local and global markets.
ING Business Shared Services (IBSS), ING’s only shared services hub in Asia, renewed its vote of confidence in the Philippines as a “captive offshoring” market for global companies amid the projected slowdown in BPO revenues.
Joey Cuyegkeng, ING Bank Manila branch senior economist, projected that revenues from outsourcing would grow by less than 10 percent this year and would taper off in the coming years.
Investment pledges in the outsourcing industry already contracted by 22 percent year-on-year due to “competition from other Asian economies, onshoring threats for US companies, security concerns, and uncertainties over incentives,” Cuyegkeng noted.
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These BPO revenues accounted for around 47 percent of the Philippines’ structural inflows in 2016 and thus have had a huge impact on the strength of the local currency.
Together with overseas remittances, the $25-billion BPO industry has been a driver of domestic consumption.