Tremendous wealth, job creation potential in BPO industry

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh MP says more finances and job opportunities are available for persons and entities interested in the local Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry.

The Finance Minister made the comments on Tuesday, following a tour of Express International, a BPO company established several years ago by Ken Deocharran.

During the tour, Dr. Singh spoke of the attractiveness of Guyana as a BPO destination.

“As a Government, we would like to see the BPO sector continue to grow. It has the potential to grow far beyond its current size for the reasons. Guyana of course is an English-speaking country. We have a very well-educated population. We are strategically located on the same time zone as the East Coast of North America, and we’re very close to the US and Canada. We’re very easily accessible to the big North American cities. As you know, we are five or six hours away from New York. We are four or five hours away from Miami.”

The Minister said even prior to 2015, the PPP/C Government had invested policy effort towards attracting BPO businesses to Guyana, and has now renewed its commitment to doing so.

He also commended the company’s owner for demonstrating what the diaspora can do. He said the Government has been on a campaign to encourage Guyanese living abroad to return and invest.

“We have for a long time been saying that the Guyanese diaspora has a lot of talent, a lot of experience, and a lot of expertise, and indeed a lot of capital, and that that capital and that experience and expertise can be harnessed in a way that brings benefit to the owner but also brings national benefit.”

Dr. Singh encouraged the company to expand in Guyana. Deocharran told the Minister that rapid expansion is his goal.

“We have come into Guyana and made a huge impact on the labour market, providing great job opportunities for Guyanese people, and I’m looking to continue to grow that as fast as I can to potentially get to a bigger number than 285, with the hopes of getting it into the thousands.”

Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) Dr. Peter Ramsaroop accompanied Dr. Singh on the tour.