Philippines Urged to Tap Europe Outsourcing Market

Philippine outsourcing companies have been urged to turn their attention to European customers to expand their markets. Now that the country is fast capitalizing on being among the world’s destinations for global outsourcing and off-shoring business, industry stakeholders here are encouraged to continue to taking advantage of the vast European market.

European Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines executive VP Henry Schumacher said the Philippines is still unable to fully maximize the outsourcing market, which is currently being enjoyed by India. "India is doing well in marketing itself as a growth location for European investors. But the Philippines has a huge potential to even grab a bigger share," he said. "Since Europe is also aggressively looking at opportunities from emerging countries in the east, now is the time for the entire Philippines to explore Europe since it is also the largest business process outsourcing market," Schumacher said. While several European companies have already come to invest in the Philippines, the lack of knowledge in understanding the European culture requires need for waging a more aggressive campaign when penetrating the foreign market. The European culture is not hard to grasp and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is willing to assist stakeholders here in that aspect, the association can do initial training for employees to businesses like call center.

Schumacher advised that more visibility in the market should be emphasize, including the need for a European or someone with influence speaking for the Philippines and the business environment in the country. Branding, he stressed, is also necessary when capitalizing on the highly elusive European market. The brand should professionalize Filipinos. We believe that everybody in the world has in one way or another been touched by a Filipino. The Filipinos’ individuality is important to market the Philippines to Europe, we just have to focus on the Filipinos’ capabilities.

The ECCP is currently conducting talks with the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) to pioneer a committee called “Team Europe” to spearhead an aggressive marketing campaign for the country’s O&O industry. The team will also involve other institutions like the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), CITEM and a number of individual companies.