In 1995, the Special Economic Zone Act, thus establishing the Philippine Economic Zone

Authority, was passed by the Philippine Congress. This Act provided lower area requirements
for developments and tax incentives, which consequently attracted foreign investors.
In 1997, SYKES opened its doors in the Philippines, becoming the first multinational call center
to operate in the country.

In November 2001 visit of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the US, she
addressed an Information Technology (IT) Forum in New York and Six (6)
Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were signed by the following: 1. ICP Venture
Partners, Inc. and Ambergis Solutions, Inc. 2. Customer Contact Center, Inc.(C3) (Ph) and
Source One Communications (US) 3. Corporate Information Solutions (CIS) and Information
Builders 4. Immequire (RP) and Tele Response Center, Inc. (US) 5. ePLDT, Inc. and Echostar
Communications Corporation 6. ePLDT, Inc. and Teletech Holdings, Inc.[citation needed]
The signing of MOUs started the growth of BPO industry in the Philippines, Ambergis
Solutions was established that year as a call center for US-based clients in the utilities, IT, travel
& hospitality, telecommunications and financial services industries, and hired 5,500 employees.
Immequire was a call center based in Arlington, Virginia that came to operate one of the fastest
growing contact centers in the Philippines.

Source One Communications put up a call center in Eastwood Cyberpark.

The American company Echostar and ePLDT established a $5.5- million call center in Makati
City located at Reposo corner Jupiter Streets with an initial 500 seats.

Teletech, whose founder-CEO Kenneth Tuchman invested heavily and employed more than 21
thousand workers in the Philippines during PGMA's administration. (Ref: Department of Trade
Industry, New York Office)

Also in the same year, a US-Based outsourcing center called the "People Support" moved its
operations moved to the Philippines, generating 8,400 jobs for the country. Bong Borja, its CEO,
became president of the BPO Association of the Phiippines.

In 2003, the Convergys Corporation opened up two more call centers in the Philippines. It was at
that time when Jack Freker, the president of Convergys Corporation, announced the
incorporation of the Philippines in the revenue generation plan and the global expansion of the
company. In 2005, accounting for 2.4% of the country's GDP, the Philippine acquired over 3%
of the global BPO market. A year after, with ePLDT Ventus leading in the BPO industry,
domestic economy increased by 5.4% and 11,000 more people were employed. In 2010, the
Philippines was then declared the world's BPO capital. From this point, the BPO industry
continued to grow and generate more revenue, with the industry providing the most job
opportunities in the private sector.[2]
Since the 1980s, unemployment rate stayed between 8-11% in the Philippines. Even if the
economy did have some growth, there was always the problem of job generation. The BPO
industry has the most substantial contribution to economic growth, yet it only employs 1% of the
labor force. The MTPDP (Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 2004-2010) has set a
target to create "1.5 million jobs a year between 2004 and 2010, or a total of 10 million jobs by
2010." Though the government came short of this success, in 2006 the government was able to
identify nine employment-generating factors and these are cyber services, aviation, agribusiness,
health services, mining, creative industries, hotels and restaurants, medical tourism and overseas
employment. The BPO sector only accounted for 0.075% of the GDP in 2000 but rose to 2.4% in
2005 which indicated a great potential for generating employment. In this sector alone, it reached
a staggering one million workers by 2010 and accounted for 27% of all new jobs.