Beyond call centres? Philippines reopens Manila for outsourcing edge

The Philippines is reopening Metro Manila to new outsourcing hubs to bolster its position in the global services market and attract more complex work from multinational companies. This initiative aims to make modern, incentive-eligible office space available in the capital, enabling the country to compete for higher-value offshore functions like software engineering, finance, healthcare documentation, data work, and AI-related services. However, the decision has also raised concerns that increased investment in Manila might detract from efforts to develop outsourcing hubs in provincial cities such as Cebu, Davao, and Clark. This move comes seven years after new IT parks in the capital were previously restricted.