Negros call center hub to create 41,000 jobs

BACOLOD CITY—Officials of Negros Occidental are expecting to create at least 41,000 jobs through the provincial government’s plan to turn a 12,000-square-meter government lot into a hub for call centers and projects being lined up by private investors.

Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. said the provincial government will put up a building on the lot currently occupied by the Paglaum Sports Complex to house so-called information technology and business process outsourcing establishments, more commonly known as call centers.

The project, to be known as Negros First Cyberpark, was expected to create at least 1,000 jobs, according to the governor.

The governor, speaking during the Negros First ICT Summit, said he expects another 40,000 jobs to be created by SM group of companies, owner of some of the country’s largest malls, when it builds 10 12-story buildings for call center firms on the government lot along Gatuslao Street.

The 10 buildings will be built around a convention center that SM plans to build at the center of the lot, the governor said.

The governor said economic zones would also rise in the cities of Silay, Talisay, Bago, Kabankalan, Sagay and Victorias. Inquirer