MANILA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated Thursday a second call center of the U.S. computer producer Dell in the Philippines, which is expected to hire 1,200 workers.

    The new call center facility is located in the Eastwood Cyberpark in Quezon City, while the first one was opened in February 2006 in the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City with 1,400 workers.

    Both call centers provide service and technical support to Dell consumer customers in the United States.

    Richard Hunter, vice president of Dell's Customer Experience and Support Team, said Dell, which operates in 25 locations in the world, is expanding its global network of customer support centers to keep up with its growth as a company.

    Dell said in a statement earlier that the company selected the Philippines for its customer contact centers "because of the strong language and communication skills of its high-quality workforce."

    "With its English-savvy population, about 100 similar facilities in place and 650,000 students, the Philippines is fast becoming the contact center location of choice in Southeast Asia," the company said.