A case can always be made for the promotion of exports. Exports generate revenues from abroad. But there is a kind of export that deviates from the usual concept of export which refers to goods sold abroad.

Here I refer to exports of services, or of people with skills needed in other countries.
And there is one type of such an export that interests me and should catch the attention of many of our readers. I believe it is the export of the future by the way it is expanding now.

It is an export that is made possible by technology. It is an export that is “borderless” and the producer has less “hassle” such as going through voluminous, time-consuming and expensive documentation through customs.

Here I refer to services rendered in the country and producing documents or actions that are transmitted in the internet.

This can be distinguished from export of services as done by Overseas Filipino Workers. In this type of export, Filipinos don’t leave the country.

These “information technology” exports are starting to be a frontrunner and I predict it will be the country’s major export within the next ten years.

The technical term is “Business Process Outsourcing” (BPO) which refers to foreign companies having services done for them in the Philippines rather than, say, in the U.S.

How fast are BPO companies in the Philippines expanding? It’s nothing short of phenomenal. Employment, revenues and investments in BPO will rise by 42 percent this year, according to Socio-economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri. Employment is expected to increase from 233,000 this year to 1.2 million by 2010.
In Eastern Visayas there are three emerging BPO exports namely: data – entry, web services, and call centers.

Keep track of these and other BPOs.

It’s going to get bigger and bigger in terms of employment and income.

They could represent the needed push that will accelerate this regions socio-economic development.