Cebu City (11 March) -- The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in Cebu has remained strong despite the global economic crisis, said National Economic and Development Authority Regional Office 7 (NRO7) Director Marlene CA P. Rodriguez said during the last week's Philippine Economic Briefing in Cebu City.

"Although business outlook in general may not be as rosy as in the previous years, investors are still bullish on the IT-enabled industry particularly BPOs, contact and shared services centers in Central Visayas specifically in Cebu," Rodriguez said.

The NEDA regional director cited a study from Tholon, a full-service strategic advisory firm for global outsourcing and investments, which showed Cebu as the top emerging outsourcing city worldwide.

"The global economic crisis is expected to prompt companies to outsource operations which are not part of their core business in order to trim down cost of operations. Cebu, being recognized internationally as one of the top emerging outsourcing destinations, can take advantage of this opportunity," Rodriguez said.

In her presentation, Rodriguez showed that as of 2008, there were about 25 call centers and 36 non-voice business process outsourcing companies operating in Cebu. She said that these companies employ an estimated total of 50,000 workers.