Jamaica to host major conference on attracting business to the region

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Sept 16, CMC – The Barbados-based Caribbean Export Development says Jamaica will host a major conference later this year to discuss how best to attract more business from international companies to the Caribbean in areas such as call centre operations, website and animation design, and legal and accounting services.
It said that more than 100 industry leaders from the public and private sectors across the region are expected to converge in Jamaica on December 6 for the event.
The first-ever Outsource to the Caribbean Conference (OCC) will be held under the theme “Leveraging the Nearshore Caribbean for Outsourcing Services”.
It is being organised by the Caribbean Export Development in conjunction with the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) and funded by the European Union through the 11^th European Development Fund (EDF).
The conference will focus on the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector, specifically “nearshore outsourcing” which involves contracting the operations of specific business processes to third-party service providers in neighbouring or nearby countries.
Executive Director of Caribbean Export, Pamela Coke Hamilton, said that outsourcing business to the Caribbean is beneficial not only to the region but to any international businesses investing here.
“The Caribbean is an excellent place to do business. We have a highly skilled, educated multi-lingual and cost effective labour pool. There is also a flexible work environment and a supportive regulatory framework which allows for low operational costs.
“The Caribbean also has an advanced telecommunications infrastructure with all the necessary requirements for global connectivity,” she said, noting that the Caribbean could offer excellent BPO services in areas such as voice processing/call centres; back office automation; shared services; finance and accounting; human resources and legal processes among others.
Senior Advisor, Investment Promotion, at Caribbean Export, Suzette Hudson, explained that OCC2017 was designed to increase awareness of the Caribbean as an outsourcing destination for business processes.
“It aims to bring together all the key BPO stakeholders in the region for the development of a targeted BPO Growth Strategy, which is expected to start in 2018.
“We also wish to enhance the visibility of the sector through increased communication about the value proposition of the Caribbean, generate investment leads, and increase the Caribbean’s insertion into BPO networks through connections with BPO journals, newsletters and key influencers”,  Hudson noted.
She said the conference will offer participants the opportunity to fully discuss areas relevant to BPO.  “Potential investors will gain insight into regional offerings and the numerous service possibilities through an impressive programme of plenaries and one-on-one engagements.
“They can also create their own nearshore operation or form new partnerships with more than 100 potential partners, ranging from outsource providers and commercial developers to end users,” she added.