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Growth & Jobs | Caribbean’s Outsourcing Sector to provide 2.3 million jobs by 2020

Published:Monday | December 11, 2017 | 12:00 AM
Gloria Henry, president of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica, speaks at the opening reception for the Outsource to the Caribbean Conference 2017 on December, 5.

Regional stakeholders are predicting that by the next three years 2.3 million jobs will become available in the outsourcing sector throughout the Caribbean.

Speaking at the Regional Investors of the Year Awards in Montego Bay last week Tuesday, President of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica, Gloria Henry made reference to analytical data that indicate that the Caribbean will generate just under three million job opportunities by 2020. "Analysts believe that by 2020, 2.3 million jobs will become available, but then 1.8 million might leave us, so there is a 500,000 positive variance, which we in the Caribbean are looking forward to taking advantage of," said Henry.

 

TIMELY OCCASION

 

According to Henry, this is a very timely occasion for Caribbean leaders in the outsourcing sector to come together. "We have commonality in geography, in our people. We have the same challenges, but we have the same opportunities, and, most important, we are looking forward to continuing to wow the customers for whom we have transformed businesses in America, for whom we have made the Caribbean one of the premier places for customer service," stated Henry.

The Regional Investor of the Year Awards took the form of a cocktail reception, hosted by the Iberostar Grand Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay, where more than 100 industry leaders from the public and private sectors across the region converged to share investment ideas and seek further opportunities within the outsourcing sector.

Organisers of the event, Caribbean Export Development and the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, received applications from 10 Caribbean countries. Persons were selected based on the impact they had on customer satisfaction and retention.

Recognising local and regional investors

The Regional Investors of the Year Awards are designed to highlight the contribution of investors within the region and the contribution of foreign investors to the region. These investors are key participants in regional economic growth and their contributions include the creation of job opportunities, adherence to high standards of corporate social responsibility, notable monetary spending, and significant fiscal support to economies through the payments of corporate taxes.

The Unicomer Group of Trinidad and Tobago won in two categories: Foreign Investor of the Year Award, which seeks to honour foreign investors that are non-Caribbean nationals; and the Regional Investor of the Year Award, which recognises investors in strategic areas of importance such as green energy, research and development, projects that involve a high degree of innovation and creativity and those that are championed by women. The Unicomer Group was established in 2000 and its operations across 22 countries in the Caribbean and Central America comprise well-positioned speciality retail chains selling a large variety of products.

 

Offering Quality Concrete

 

The Local Investor of the Year Award was presented to KSM Investments from Guyana. In expressing gratitude, KSM Investments head, Mahadeo Panchu said that his business was just two years old, but was already making steady inroads in offering quality concrete to the building and construction sector. He said that KSM would continue raising the bar on concrete products, and very soon, would be seeking partnerships for distribution in the Caribbean. "We believe we have a world-quality product. We have been recognised by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards. Just in October, we won the Gold award for quality, and we are very happy that we are recognised for what we are doing," said Panchu.