Technopark based firm UST Global has opened its new facility in the Philippines, and is already aiming to expand its work force to 1,000 and reach revenues of $32 million in its first year.

In a press briefing yesterday, UST Global Chief Executive Sajan Pillai said the new facility in Taguig has 200 employees but the work force would be increased substantially in a few years.

“We’re going to hire 1,000 employees in the next three months and hopefully reach around 2,000 for the year. In the next three years we plan to have 3,000 to 5,000 people,” he said.

UST Global specializes in software development and has facilities in India, Canada, Chile and Europe. It serves mainly North American companies and has close to 7,000 people worldwide. Mr. Pillai said UST Global grew 20% in 2009 and is projecting a 40% growth for 2010.

The firm may expand to other cities like Cebu in the next three years. “We will look at other locations, maybe Cebu, but we will wait until we hit critical mass which is around 3,000 to 5,000 people,” said Mr. Pillai.

Stephanie Moore, UST Global chief marketing officer, said the Philippines was chosen for the communication skills of the work force.“We saw that people in the Philippines were very extroverted which is good for software development so we see that the Philippines is a good country to pair with India in terms of strategy,” said Ms. Moore.

Joe Nalkara, President of UST Global, predicts that the Philippines centre will be a strategically significant geographical and business location for the growing Asian presence of UST Global. “We zeroed in on the Philippines because of the highly skilled and refined work culture we’ve observed here. This is a perfect match with the style of functioning we follow elsewhere in our centres,” he said.