BOI-approved ₧524-M Amazon project seen to boost IT-BPM
The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the P524.33-million project of Amazon Operation Services Philippines, Inc. (AOSPI), which is seen to bolster the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry in the country.
The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the P524.33-million project of Amazon Operation Services Philippines, Inc. (AOSPI), which is seen to bolster the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry in the country.
The newly approved application for registration of AOSPI will serve as a new services export provider for its Virtual Customer Services (VCS) project in its new business site at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.
Prior to this project, AOSPI had three existing sites across the Philippines: two in Cebu City and one in Metro Manila.
The BOI said the approved project of AOSPI is expected to strengthen the country’s IT-BPM industry. The project will commence commercial operations in September 2022.
“The VCS project will provide customer and vendor management services to support Amazon’s global retail business and sellers,” said BOI in a news statement issued on Friday.
According to BOI, AOSPI provides various support services such as remote technical support services, IT development, customer support, customer care services, business process outsourcing (BPO), and back-office support, which includes but is not limited to systems, hardware, software, and human resources relating to the back-office, among others.
“True enough, the approval of this project shows that we are not faltering in our efforts to advance the IT-BPM industry in the country. This is just the start of more investments being injected into the country’s economy, specifically into the IT-BPM industry. We are making it happen in the Philippines,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said.
The agency said the company sees the Philippines as the top priority for its new project and investments, pointing to the high technical skills and level of English proficiency of the Filipino work force.
As for its potential contribution to the economy, the BOI said, “Based on the project’s multiplier values, it is projected to generate 1,058 jobs for Filipinos, with a P959.5-million contribution to the economy and P616.9 million to household income.”
The project will adopt 100 percent work-from-home operations for its contact center agents, said the BOI. Moreover, the VCS project is set to expand AOSPI’s current operation in the remote workplace, not just as a response to the persisting pandemic, which requires a hybrid workspace—combining both on-site and remote operations, but following the global work trends as well.
According to the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) for 2018 to 2022, the IT-BPM is a key export sector of the country. The project is seen to strengthen the realization of the PEDP 2018-2022 end-period target for exports of goods and services.
The IT-BPM is among the sectors that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has actively promoted to spur the country’s exports.
In 2021, the country’s IT-BPM industry recorded an estimated revenue of $29.5 billion, signifying a 10.6-percent jump from 2020. Further, the number of full-time employees in the country soared by 120,000 in 2021, bringing the sector’s total headcount to 1.44 million and recording a growth of 9.1 percent compared to 2020.