In fact, among South East Asian countries, the Philippines leads in the global outsourcing business. After first providing call center services, Philippines moved on to IT services. Cities like Manila, Cebu and Davao have built up reputations as major outsourcing destinations along with Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi in India.

In the GSLI 2016, which primarily measures potential power, the Philippines ranked number seven, behind Indonesia and Thailand. But India remained the undisputed champion. The availability of skilled labor and infrastructure for new cities were the keys to India winning the competition.

The GSLI has been existed since 2009. The index surveys 55 countries and uses 38 measurements grouped into three overarching categories. The first is financial attractiveness, constituting 40 per cent of the overall score. The second is skills and availability, which constitutes 30 per cent of the score. The third category is business environment, amounting to 30 per cent of the score.