BPO firm StarTek is planning to invest an additional $9 million to expand its operations in the country. StarTek managing director Ed Mallari said they are upbeat on the Philippines and the future of the industry. The US-based outsourcing firm has invested $10 million for its facility in Makati and is planning to bring in an additional $9 million in new capital as it looks for another office space in the country. During the inauguration of its Makati office in January, the first office outside the United States and Canada, StarTek president and CEO Larry Jones said that they are pleased with their choice to locate in the Philippines and are now looking at their next investment site.

According to him, they would like to remain in Makati but are open to locating in Cebu as well. “In the second half we will start looking at other facilities (but) we are not convinced that the province is better than Makati,” Jones said. He said the number two location would be Cebu City. Jones refused to provide details on their next investment but said they are looking at opening a site with a capacity of 1,000 seats.

The Philippine office is the largest facility of StarTek because its offices in the United States have a capacity of 500 seats only. The office in Makati is their 20th location.

Jones said StarTek focuses on North American clients. With their current setup, Jones said their operations are equally divided between voice and non voice. However, he said they plan on moving towards voice with 70 percent and non voice 30 percent.

 In terms of revenues, Jones said they expect the Philippine operations to contribute 10 percent because the Philippines will house 1,100 seats out of the 9,000 seats of Startek.

 “The complex support services we provide our clients are integral to our clients’ operations and their relationships with their customers. Our proven capability to deliver high-quality, high-value services has consistently made us the number one services provider for our clients; but more importantly among our clients’ clients,” said Jones.

In 2008, the BPO industry generated approximately $7 billion in revenue according to the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT). CICT expects 2009 industry revenues to increase by as much as 35 percent. Source

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 1st, 2009 at 3:02 am and is filed under BPO News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.