Iloilo, Bacolod identified as new wave cities

Bacolod City

The cities of Iloilo and Bacolod in Western Visayas has been identified as the new wave cities.

This was disclosed by Director Dominic Abad of the Department of Trade and Industry, Region VI during the PIA-CATV program, recently.

Director Abad explained that for Iloilo City is already an acknowledged fact that “we have several universities and colleges here, and producing thousands of graduates who will serve as our pool of dynamic workers.”

Western Visayas is also a place that our investors go to, Abad said as he cited the vast potentials of the region, like its human resources, good infrastructure, connectivity and tourism industry.

Director Abad said that the IT –BPO is also growing and providing employment opportunities for the region.

The DTI 6 record showed that for IT-BPO call centers Iloilo City has 8; Bacolod- 8; Medical Transcription Services: Iloilo- 1; Bacolod –one.

This is in line with what President Arroyo disclosed during the 9th e-services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition that “our BPO industry continues to boom as global cost-cutting is sent to outsourcing. The Philippines is ranked among the most attractive off-shoring destinations in the world because of competitiveness and more importantly the country’s highly trainable, English proficient, IT-enabled quality manpower.

According to a Malacañang press report, President Arroyo’s Cyber Corridor in her super regions economic development plan has been “lengthened” from Metro Manila, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu and Davao to include Baguio, Dagupan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Metro Bulacan, Metro Rizal, Metro Cavite, Metro Laguna, Metro Batangas, Dumaguete and Cagayan de Oro. (PIA6/T.Villavert)