The President was referring to the recently-released International Business Report of Grant Thornton, an independently-owned and managed accounting and consulting firm, which ranked the Philippines second among 30 world economies in terms of optimism on the economy over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, the California Pension and Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest U.S. pension and retirement fund and investment advisor, has also raised the rating of the country, making it a more desirable investment destination than China, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Arroyo added that the country is now ready to "move up the value chain" and go beyond business process outsourcing to move to higher value e-services and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO). 'We started out with call centers, now we are moving to higher kinds of value-added services,' she said. Acknowledging that moving up the value chain and going into KPO poses greater demand for a more skilled and specialized talent pool, Arroyo said the government is committed to honing the skills of the Filipino workforce.