President Benigno Aquino III yesterday lauded the Negros Occidental provincial government for the construction of the P674 million Negros First CyberCentre that he said will not only create thousands of jobs, but will also raise revenues to increase services to Negrenses.

Aquino, who led the unveiling of the NFCC marker, noted that it will create 6,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs, and raise P90 million in rentals annually.

The NFCC is an information technology and business process out-sourcing hub located at the Paglaum Sports Complex along Lacson and Hernaez streets.

The president has declared it a IT Center Special Economic Zone.

The president, who called Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. “his idol,” thanked him for the pursuit of good governance and the delivery of services to the people.

The president said that the 2015 Tholons Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations Report shows Metro Manila as the second top outsourcing destination in the world, next only to Bangalore, India.

Of the 100 cities in this list, eight are in the Philippines, and Bacolod City's is ranked 86 th from 93 the year before, he said.

The president was accompanied by Secretaries Mar Roxas – Local Government, Gregory Domingo – Trade and Industry, Herminio Coloma – Communications, Janette   Garin  – Health, and Proceso Alcala – Agriculture, and TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva.

Marañon thanked Aquino for coming and for the assistance he has given Negros Occidental.

The assistance Aquino has given Negros Occidental in infrastructure, agriculture, tourism to name a few, has far exceeded that given Negros Occidental by five previous president's combined, the governor said.

Marañon said the NFCC is more than just a structure – it is a central point of convergence of ideas, creativity and technology – that will generate jobs, opportunities and investments for the country.

The NFCC is home to startups – run by young and brilliant Negrenses, side by side with established international corporations, and where foreign and local IT companies can set up shop, he said.

Negros Occidental fully supports the IT-BPO Philippine Roadmap 2016 of reaching the targets of 1.3 million jobs and $25 billion in revenues, he said.

Bacolod and Negros Occidental will contribute 30,000 jobs by the end of 2016, he added.

The governor said the province will continue to heavily invest in talent development programs with the help of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority   and will enhance programs for stepping up the value chain – in the area of finance and accounting outsourcing, animation and game development, software development and health care information outsourcing.

He pointed out that the Negros Occidental Language and IT Center already has finishing courses for Call Center, 2D Animation and Medical Transcription.

The governor urged the national government to continue initiatives to help LGUs shift from paper to paperless operations, and, from efficient to fast and efficient.

With the help of the Commission on Higher Education and local government officials, the governor said the provincial government will continue to equip trainers and teachers in the province as a long term measure to lessen the adverse effects of labor mismatch.

The province shall consciously take efforts to match the thousands of jobs with thousands of qualified workers, he said.

Negros Occidental, with the help of DTI, shall Intensify International Promotions and Trade Missions for the province to ensure that jobs will also go outside of Metro Manila, he added.

“With the help of ICTO-DOST, we will continue to provide support for Filipino startups,” the governor also said.*CPG

back to top