Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm Sam Fennec.

Today in the second programme in our series looking at what drives the Philippines economy,

we're taking you into the hustle and bustle of Curzon City,

the main economic and business centre of Metro Manila, the country's capital.

Call centres are a major employer here. If you've ever had to call a customer support number

from anywhere in the world, you might have just spoken to one of these workers.

For nearly a quarter of to one of these workers. How can I assist you today?

For nearly a quarter of a century, business outsourcing has been the cornerstone of the Philippines economy. But technological advancements like artificial intelligence are threatening the industry

and could make the role of call agents redundant.

I think for the data entry jobs, it's going to be obsolete in a few years.

So what's the future of the Philippine economy and how could it adapt?

That's all coming up on today's program.

It's the late 1990s and the dot-com boom is well underway.

The rapid rise of internet-based companies is in full swing, giving birth to the global online economy and fundamentally changing how we live and work.

The dot-com boom played a major role in the growth of the business process outsourcing industry,

or BPO, as it's become known.

This is when companies hire external service providers to handle tasks like customer service,

technical help or sales and marketing calls.

These call centres are often located in low-income countries where labour costs are low.

By the early 2000s, the Philippines had become a global outsourcing centre.

Major companies like IBM and American Express began establishing operations in the country.

And its government created the IT and business process association of the Philippines

...