BULUAN, Maguindanao (MindaNews / 03 March) — Buluan, the hometown of Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu and present seat of the provincial government, will host the country’s first call center that would cater to Arab nations.
“It is expected to operate later this year or early 2019,” Mangudadatu told reporters at the groundbreaking rites of the 200-milion peso mixed use building that will be home to the business processing and outsourcing (BPO) center.
Prayers offered during the groundbreaking rites of the future BPO building across the compound of the Provincial Capitol in Buluan, Maguindanao on March 1, 2018. MIndaNews photo by FERDINANDH B. CABRERA
It will also be the first call center in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Mangudadatu envisions Buluan to be “the call center hub of the region and possibly the country exclusively for Arab nations.”
He said the call center, which will be constructed across the compound of the Provincial Capitol, is expected to generate employment for at least 1,200 workers.
The workforce will be coming from Islamic scholars and a workforce with expertise in speaking Arabic.
Mangudadatu estimates the call center would generate employment for at least 1,200 workers sourced from the among the scholars of the provincial government.
“Priorities for employment will be graduates of our Mag-Peace scholarship program,” Mangudadatu said. “Islamic scholars aree lso given priority to show they are not supporting extremists,” he added.
Alex Buenaventura, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) graced the groundbreaking rites.
The Land Bank will provide the provincial government a hundred million peso loan for the construction of the building while the provincial government will provide a counterpart of a hundred million pesos.
The multi-use building will not only host the call center but also a hotel and commercial spaces to encourage more investors to come to Buluan, invest and create more job opportunities, he said.
Buenaventura said the primary objective of the Land Bank loans is to help improve employment opportunities for the people of Maguindanao.
(Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
