THE business sector of Davao City has already put up measures against the dreaded influenza A (H1N1) virus.

But the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII) maintained the effects of the virus have been very minimal on the business front.

"We have seen that the strain of the virus in the country is not as fatal as that in other countries. The virus can be managed, and the level of fear is low," Simeon Marfori, DCCCII president, said in an interview, citing the business-as-usual attitude of Dabawenyos.

Marfori said that they have constantly reminded their members on precautionary measures in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

"Measures are already in place," Marfori assured.

The city's premier hotel and shopping center, in fact, has put up measures of their own in order to avoid the spread of the virus, although no confirmed case has been reported in Davao City.

Marco Polo Davao, for its part, has placed hand sanitizers that are dispensed by sensors in strategic locations of the hotel, especially in the lobby area. Places of convergence within the hotel are also disinfected from time to time.

SM City Davao, on the other hand, has taken it further by placing footbaths in all entry and exit points of the shopping center.

Frequently touched surfaces within the mall are also disinfected every three hours, while soap and sanitizers have also been placed in the mall's comfort rooms.

Mall officials have also ensured that there is an efficient and proper circulation of fresh air inside the mall with the use of fresh air fans.

SM City Davao's measures will have a highlight on June 24 with their handwashing event.

"There should be a comprehensive approach on the fight against A (H1N1)," Marfori said. "The matter is a concern of both the public and private sectors."

Although no case has been reported in Davao City and in Southern Mindanao, confirmed cases in the country have already breached the 100 mark.(CPM)

Article from Sun Star Davao

OUTSIDE of Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, Davao is set to be the biggest location for business process outsourcing (BPO) in the country.

So says David Leechiu, Country head of Jones Lang La Salle, adding that a lot of BPO companies are looking at Davao now as an investment destination.

Jones Lang La Salle services the top BPOs in the Philippines, including 11 of the 12 largest, mainly through site acquisition, brokerage and construction and property management.

Davao and nearby Cagayan de Oro, according to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Growth of Equity in Mindanao (GEM), are “well on the way to becoming BPO hubs.”

There are six major call centers in Davao: CyberCity, Concentrix (Link2Support which employs several hundred agents), Sutherland, Call Box, Global Connect and Western Wats which recently invested P60 million in its Davao operations. Another 10 smaller call centers are also operating.

From an initial 200 BPO seats, the total seat capacity is now almost 3,000 with 3,000 seats more expected in the next 18 months.

“The Philippine Cyber Corridor Report 2008 has ranked Davao No. 4 among the country’s Top 10 Next Wave Cities. The report also places Davao, along with Iloilo, among the top 31 BPO locations.

One factor that attracts BPOs is the high quality of the Davao workforce, which is estimated to be twice that of Cebu, seven times that of Angeles/Clark, and six times that of Baguio, according to the XMG study cited by a report by BPAP and GEM. This does not include the potential workforce from nearby cities and provinces.

Leechiu also says that the emergence of BPOs has led to the “repatriation” of Davao natives who had migrated to Cebu and Manila. “Since BPO companies opened in Davao, employees have gone back home to jobs that are available there,” he says.

While the Davao BPO employees possess the Filipino trademark patience, flexibility and English-fluency skills, they are said to make for far better salesmen than their Manila counterparts.

According to the BPAP-GEM report, the bumper crop of skilled graduates in the area can be traced to Mindanao’s tertiary level academic institutions that are at par with the rest of the country and concentrated in urban centers that are likely to become BPO locations.

Zamboanga City, the country’s sixth most populous city (population: 750,000), has over 60 universities and colleges. The cities of Iligan and Marawi, just half an hour apart, have a combined student population of 25,000 in their Mindanao State University (MSU) campuses.

“Schools are now tailoring the curriculum to integrate English into the entire academic program, which develops the students’ facility with the language,” says Joji Bian, president of the Philippine Call Center Alliance and owner of an academy, which conducts call center training across Mindanao.

At Iligan’s MSU campus, one of the country’s top technical schools, the Iligan Institute of Technology (IIT), is even collaborating with a Manila-based BPO firm to provide its faculty members with cutting edge software development training. With the influx of more businesses in the city, Davao is currently experiencing a surge in economic growth.

Major telcos have invested a substantial amount of money to provide facilities for BPOs. Six Information Technology parks and buildings now operate in Metro Davao.

The Digital Fiber Optic Network is one of the come-ons for business, along with the Francisco Bangoy International Airport which can accommodate two million passengers a year and has direct flights to Hong Kong, Singapore and Manado, as well as daily flights to Manila, Cebu, Zamboanga and Iloilo.

Leechiu mentions the low crime rate and the Davao City police, which has been consistently chosen the Best Police Office in the country.

News by Cora Llamas, Manila Times Special Report
http://www.davaocity.gov.ph/NewsArticle.aspx?id=27