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DPERGLD ERUQ &\ULO 5RFNH ZDV DQ H[HFXtive in a big French bank for 10 years and, KDYLQJ OLYHG DQG ZRUNHG LQ 6RXWKHDVW $VLD ZLVKHG WR UHWXUQ WKHUH ,Q DJHG KLV ZRUN WRRN KLP WR WKH 3KLOLSSLQHV ´7KH FRXQWU\ ZDVQ¡W RQH RI P\ SULRULWLHV EXW Credit Lyonnais had just bought a majority stake in a branch RI WKH 6ZLVV JURXS =XHOOLJ , IRXQG P\VHOI UXQQLQJ RQH RI WKHLU VPDOO Ă€QDQFH EUDQFK RIĂ€FHV , KDG D ORW RI IUHHGRP , PDQDJHG SHRSOH DQG KDG D ORW WR GHDO ZLWK ² UHQHZLQJ WKH VHQLRU PDQDJHPHQW WHDP PRYLQJ RIĂ€FHV DQG UHEXLOGLQJ D EUDQG , KDG WR GHDO ZLWK WKH FKDOOHQJHV IDFHG E\ DQ HQWUHSUHQHXU EXW ZLWKLQ WKH IUDPHZRUN RI D ELJ FRPSDQ\ DQG I learned a lot,â€? he says. Inspired by Asian self-made men +RZHYHU D IHZ \HDUV ODWHU LQ 5RFNH GHFLGHG WR JR further and live his dream of becoming an entrepreneur. ´$V D EDQNHU , KDG PLQJOHG ZLWK PDQ\ $VLDQ HQWUHSUHQHXUV VHOI PDGH PHQ ZKR KDG EXLOW IRUWXQHV RXW RI QRWKLQJ 7KHLU VWRULHV LQVSLUHG PH $W WKH RIĂ€FH LQ 3DULV , KDG DOUHDG\ ZRUNHG ZLWK VRPH SUHWW\ HQWUHSUHQHXULDO Ă€UPV DQG , ZDV PRUH LQWHUested in being on their side than on mine. Becoming an enWUHSUHQHXU ZDV DOPRVW DQ DFW RI IDLWK , KDG QR SURMHFW EXW D ORW RI LGHDV , ZDQWHG WR EH UHVSRQVLEOH IRU P\ RZQ OLIH DQG FUHDWH DFWLYLWLHV WKDW , ZDV SDVVLRQDWH DERXW Âľ KH VD\V 5RFNH WULHG RXW YDULRXV WKLQJV EHIRUH Ă€QGLQJ DQ DFWLYLW\ WKDW gradually, via a rollercoaster of opportunities, obstacles, ´SDLQÂľ DQG GRXEW ZRXOG WXUQ RXW WR EH Ă€UVW SURPLVLQJ DQG WKHQ SURĂ€WDEOH 7RGD\ KH LV WKH ERVV RI WKUHH FRPSDQLHV ² 'DWD2QH )LQDFRUH DQG 9RLFH2QH ² ZKLFK DUH DOO LQ WKH same line of business: data centres and technology linked to computers and the internet, be it data management or leasing. “In 1997 after several failures I returned to my original area RI H[SHUWLVH Ă€QDQFH E\ FUHDWLQJ )LQDFRUH 7HFKQRORJ\ )Lnance. I met executives from the manufacturer Compaq, VLQFH ERXJKW E\ +3 ZKR ZDV ORRNLQJ IRU D SDUWQHU WR RUJDQLVH D V\VWHP IRU OHDVLQJ LWV ,7 HTXLSPHQW :KHQ &RPSDT ZDV ERXJKW E\ +3 , GLYHUVLĂ€HG WR ZRUN ZLWK (0& WKH JOREDO VWRUDJH OHDGHU DV ZHOO DV &LVFR DQG 'HOO /LWWOH E\ OLWWOH , VDZ WKHUH ZDV D PDUNHW IRU OHDVLQJ VSHFLĂ€F ,7 HTXLSPHQW WR ELJ companies,â€? he says. $IWHU WKH ZDYH RI LQYHVWPHQW LQ WKH GDWD VWRUDJH VHFWRU WKDW DFFRPSDQLHG WKH LQWHUQHW EXEEOH VDZ WKH FUHDWLRQ of several data centres in the Philippines (such as those of )LOLSLQR FRPSDQ\ $\DOD RU 6LQJDSRUH¡V .HSSHO +RZHYHU the ensuing overcapacity quickly forced some companies
to sell. In 2002, Rocke took a calculated bet on DataOne, .HSSHO¡V GDWD FHQWUH LQ ZKLFK .HSSHO KDG LQYHVWHG PLOlion), using his savings to buy it for a very competitive price. ´, WRRN RYHU D FRPSDQ\ WKDW ZDV ORVLQJ D ORW RI PRQH\ %XW , ZRQ P\ EHW LQ WKH HQG EHFDXVH WKH ,7 UHYROXWLRQ SURPSWHG more and more companies to come to the Philippines as part of their business process outsourcing (BPO) and to subcontract out the management of their heavy IT infrastructure,� he says. 500,000 people working in call centres In addition to Finacore and DataOne, Rocke recently took on VoiceOne, a telecom operator that uses VOIP (like Skype) and can thus respond to demand from call centres, ZKLFK HPSOR\ SHRSOH LQ WKH 3KLOLSSLQHV ´&DOO FHQWUHV DUH GRLQJ ZHOO EHFDXVH WKHUH DUH IHZHU DFcent problems. Filipinos speak good English and are more Americanised,� he says. 5RFNH¡V FRPSDQLHV¡ UHYHQXHV DUH QRZ JURZLQJ E\ DERXW 20 percent a year. ´7KRVH ZKR NQRZ PH WHOO PH , PDGH WKH ULJKW GHFLVLRQ %XW ORRNLQJ EDFN LW ZDV GLIÀFXOW $W WKH EHJLQQLQJ , KDG WR ÀQDQFH P\ RZQ GHYHORSPHQW ,W¡V D VRXUFH RI SULGH WR PH WKDW , DP QRZ DSSURDFKHG E\ EDQNV DQG LQWHUQDWLRQDO RUJDQLVDWLRQV ZDQWLQJ WR IXQG RXU JURZWK ¾ KH VD\V Rocke is convinced that the Philippines is a country for the future. A country young and dynamic ´:KHQ , DUULYHG WKH FRXQWU\ ZDV VXIIHULQJ D VHULRXV ÀQDQFLDO crisis. Today it has decent reserves and the BPO sector is à RXULVKLQJ ,W¡V D FRPSOHWH X WXUQ 7KH FRXQWU\ LV YHU\ \RXQJ DQG G\QDPLF ZLWK D UHDVRQDEO\ ZHOO HGXFDWHG SRSXODWLRQ WKDW VSHDNV (QJOLVK DQG ZKHUH VDODU\ FRVWV DUH ORZHU WKDQ HOVHZKHUH LQ WKH UHJLRQ $Q HQJLQHHU PDOH RU IHPDOH is three times cheaper in the Philippines than in Singapore and 40 percent cheaper than in Malaysia. The only place ZKHUH \RX FDQ ÀQG VXIÀFLHQW QXPEHUV RI TXDOLÀHG SHRSOH ZLWK VNLOOV LQ DFFRXQWV ODZ ,7 DQG RSHUDWLRQDO PDQDJHPHQW in Southeast Asia is the Philippines. And the usual problems – lack of infrastructure, energy, transport, slums – are rapidly being resolved,� he says. O
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