MANILA, Philippines - Proving its prominence in the world of business process outsourcing, the country will play host in October to hundreds of BPO executives who will be discussing prospects for the industry amid a global recession.

The Business Processing Association of the Philippines will be holding its first international conference for senior BPO executives worldwide on October 20-21, with the objective of mapping out strategies to continue to thrive despite the downturn.

?The BPAP conference will examine whether the outsourcing industry is effectively addressing the challenges of growth in the midst of a deep financial crisis while identifying and capitalizing on new opportunities for the industry,? BPAP executive director for industry affairs Jonathan de Luzuriaga said in a statement.

According to BPAP, one of the main topics that will be tackled during the conference is the evolution of the industry from mostly voice services to more ?knowledge processing? services that provide greater value to service providers.

?The BPO industry is one of the fastest growing business sectors in the world. Strong demand for outsourcing services has long been fueled by voice-based services, but demand for back-office support services and high-value ?knowledge processing? services is increasing rapidly,? the group said.

Quoting analysts, BPAP further said that as a result of the high demand for higher value-added services, the global BPO market should expand to $220 billion to $280 billion by 2012.

Speakers for the conference include noted executives from BPO companies and research groups, including McKinsey & Co. director and global leader of outsourcing and offshoring Noshir Kaka, Thomson Reuters senior site officer Raoul Teh, JPMorgan senior country operations manager Barry Marshall, Everest Consulting Group principal Nikhil Rajpal, Tholons chair and chief executive Avinash Vashistha, World Bank lead ICT policy specialist Randeep Sudan, HSBC senior vice president for operations Jennifer Strybel, and Hewitt Associates principal Anupam Prakash.

BPAP expects 500 senior executives from major industry service providers and their clients to attend the conference.