President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said the business process outsourcing (BPO) and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors create jobs with above-average salaries and bring investment into the country.

The President was on the second day of her week-long tour of the so-called cyber corridor.

In her message at the Jose Rizal University (JRU), the President said the Philippines has come a long way since 2001, when the country teetered on the brink of financial bankruptcy.

In 2001, the President said, the economy was ''jammed in reverse.'' She pointed out she turned things around by developing the labor-intensive, skills-intensive ICT and tourism services and by instilling fiscal discipline, among others.

''We did it from scratch. With only 4,000 workers then,” she said, “we turned the Philippine BPO industry into a global powerhouse.”

According to the President, the cyber corridor is now a multi-billion industry ''made up of the strongest potential locations for ICT firms engaged in software development, medical transcription, engineering design, animation, and game development.''

She added that the cyber corridor now houses 750 BPO companies served by three high-bandwidth backbone and digital networks.

This growth in the BPO and ICT industry is the result of efforts to promote strategic investments in digital infrastructure, adoption of appropriate policies, and the creation of environment conducive to the development of human capital.

She said the government has invested much in human development by providing more than 5,000 schools with computers, 4,000 of them with internet connection.

She added that her administration has established three times more technical schools than the three previous administrations combined.

“Thanks to the cyber corridor, billions of pesos in investments poured into the country, creating half a million jobs in BPOs alone,'' she said. “It is this big number of livelihood opportunities that is part of the legacy I am leaving behind.”

She said her administration, through hard work, has also created a strong and stable economy, presented a renewed global engagement, made major investments in healthcare and education, laid out roads and bridges, and built irrigation systems, and roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ports.

However, the President said, so much more remains to be done, ''I am determined to turn over to a new government a Philippines on the verge of attaining First World status in 20 years.''

The President added that the Philippines' BPO industry earned $7.3 billion in 2009, not far behind from India's $9 billion for call centers.