Philippine President Inaugurates Opening of Collection Call Center

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo joined Vikas Kapoor, President and CEO of IntelliRisk Management Corp. (IRMC), Thursday at the inauguration of IRMC’s new state-of-the art call center in Pampanga.

More than 600 new jobs will be created with the opening of the new facility by New York-based IRMC, a premier provider of customer management solutions specializing in collections, accounts receivable management, and customer retention services.

“IRMC’s new facility means new jobs and increased opportunities for the Metro Luzon Region,” said President Arroyo. “Our strategic investments and development initiatives are paying dividends, giving companies like IRMC access to our skilled, educated, English-speaking workforce.”

“The Philippines is proving to be a tremendous place to do business, and we are delighted with our new facility in the Clark Special Economic Zone,” said Vikas Kapoor, President and CEO of IRMC. “This expansion makes IRMC the largest collection company in the Philippines. This is due in no small measure to several factors: terrific Philippine workers; excellent government support; and most importantly, high performance that is leading to high satisfaction by our customers. It is a win-win situation all around.”

IRMC has made extensive financial and technology investments to open its new Center of Excellence in Clark. Building on its recent technology collaboration with high-tech pioneer Cisco Systems, IRMC’s Clark facility will be part of one of the first and largest all digital, Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) deployments in the marketplace. IRMC will initially take up 2,000 square meters that will house approximately 600 full-time employees working for blue-chip telecom clients. Expansion options will allow the site to grow to more than 1,000 full-time employees.

IRMC also has an additional facility in the Philippines that employs more than 200 people at RCBC Towers in Makati and will continue to provide its current level of employment and service levels. Total IRMC employment for the Philippines will be more than 500 by the end of the year, with the planned addition of another 300 jobs in 2007.

“We welcome IRMC to Clark as one of our anchor call center tenants,” said Jose Victor Luciano, Executive Vice President of the Clark Development Corporation. “IRMC is fast becoming one of the most robust call center companies in the Philippines. The company is opening up new professional opportunities by bringing the very challenging work of collections that requires a lot of skill and cultural affinity for the U.S. market.”

“After just a year and a half in the Philippines, IRMC’s rapid expansion shows that Philippine workers are delivering a high quality of performance for its clients,” said Roberto ‘Bobby’ Romulo, Senior Advisor, International Competitiveness for the Philippines. “Not only is the Philippines competing and winning in the global labor marketplace, we are moving up the services value chain, delivering highly skilled work for cutting-edge companies such as IRMC.”

IRMC has hired Sumit Malhotra as the Senior Vice President of Operations at the new Clark facility. Malhotra’s first order of business has been to recruit and train more than 300 new recruits to fill available positions.

Participating in the official ceremony were Edgardo Pamintuan, CORD-3 and Subic-Clark Alliance President Secretary; Rene Diaz, Presidential Assistant for Central Luzon; Antonio Ng, CDC President; Jose Victor Luciano, CDC Executive Vice President; NOLCOM Commander Lt. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos; Ysmael Rafanan, PNP Region 3 Director C/Supt.

After a bronze plaque unveiling and ribbon-cutting, President Arroyo toured the new facility and lunched with local dignitaries, government officials, and representatives from IRMC clients.