Jamaica eyes India for BPO investments
Published:Friday | February 10, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Hoping to secure a piece of the business process outsourcing (BPO) market, Jamaica plans to sell itself to businesses in India as a near-shore access point to the United States with the added advantage of an English-speaking workforce.
The size of India's BPO sector was estimated at US$1.4 billion (J$119b) in 2011, said Jamaica's trade promotions agency Jampro. Its projected to grow by 18 per cent to US$1.69 billion (J$143b) in 2012.
"It is believed that all BPO areas are attractive to Indian firms. These focal areas are primarily: finance and accounting, health-care claims processing, telecoms and media, human resources outsourcing and customer service," said head of corporate communications at Jampro, Mark Thomas.
"The Indian BPO sector is mature, with numerous players and a large labour pool. Hence it is able to offer a broad range of services to clients, from basic back-office operations, to engineering design and product testing, and is still positioning itself to attract new investors and grow its market."
Last week, Jampro, by way of advertisements, solicited tenders for a consultant to negotiate direct BPO investments from the Indian market to Jamaica, where the BPO market is relatively young and worth about US$145 million (J$12.33b).
Bidders are expected to provide market intelligence, advice on potential investors and facilitate business leads.
Thomas said Jamaica can offer India and other nations from the Asian region a value proposition that includes native English speakers representing the third-largest pool in the Americas; an educated and relatively large labour pool; competitive labour costs; time zone harmonisation; cultural affinity and compatibility with North America; a comprehensive suite of incentives; and modern, reliable telecommunications infrastructure.
The immediate target market is Indian BPOs and companies that are looking for a near-shore location to expand their operations to the Americas to serve North American markets.
The Jamaica Investment Forum to be held in early March would help to increase Jamaica's visibility as an outsourcing destination, Thomas said.
Jampro projects growth of 15 per cent per year through to 2015, based on in-house research, for Jamaica's BPO sector.