President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomed two business process outsourcing companies’ interest in investing in the Philippines, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
The Chief Executive and his delegation met with representatives from Optum, a unit of UnitedHealth Group, and Atento in Washington.
According to the Presidential Communications Office, Atento plans to open its first call center at the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo.
In a meeting on Tuesday at the Blair House in Washington, DC, Marcos assured Atento officials that they made the right choice in choosing the Philippines as their location because “Filipinos speak and write the best English.”
“I know it will be successful because it has been successful in the past. It has been a go-to industry for the Philippine government for quite a long time now,” Marcos said. “I don’t see how it could be a problem since this is really a line of work that has become well-established in the Philippines.”
During the visit, Marcos met with Atento President Fili Ledezma Soto and Chief Delivery Officer Josh Ashby at the Blair House.
Officials from Atento gave the Chief Executive and representatives of the Philippine government assurances about their intention to open their call center in Iloilo.
Atento is anticipated to generate an investment of P21.4 million and create employment possibilities for about 554 and 665 individuals, respectively, in the first and second years.
Atento is a business process outsourcing and customer relationship management company with operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay and the United States.
In a separate meeting, Optum president and chief operating officer John Prince praised the “strategic partnership that we have for a very long time” and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the Philippines.
“I’m a really big believer that great things happen to great teams, and we have a great team in the Philippines,” said Prince, adding that the investment is part of the company’s efforts to broaden its operations.
Marcos also hailed Optum’s investment in medical BPO, which is expected to employ 1,500 Filipinos.
Optum met with the Board of Investments in March of this year to go through the specifics of their upcoming new project in Davao and concerns about the importation of machinery.
To operate four sites in Taguig, Muntinlupa, Quezon City and Cebu City, UHG/Optum has committed P5.1 billion in capital expenditures.
Healthcare information management services are offered across various voice, non-voice, and blended processes by UHG’s Optum business in the nation, including clinical, revenue cycle management, pharmacy services, benefits management, payment integrity, quality and risk adjustment and other services.