September 2017

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (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 11th 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. ‘Caribbean excellent place to do business’ “The Caribbean is an excellent place to do business,” Executive Director of Caribbean Export Pamela Coke Hamilton has said. “We have a highly skilled, educated multilingual and cost-effective labour pool. There is also a flexible work environment and a supportive regulatory framework which allows for low operational costs.” Giving the thumbs up to plans to stage a major conference later this year to discuss attracting more business from international companies to the region, she said, “The Caribbean also has an advanced telecommunications infrastructure with all the necessary requirements for global connectivity.” she noted 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 adviser for 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. Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170919/growth-jobs-jamaica-host-major-conference-attracting-business-region

Prime Minister Andrew Holness last week tabled the long-awaited Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Regulations in the House of Representatives. The regulations are intended to drive the SEZs, which are expected to open up significant economic opportunities for Jamaicans in terms of employment generation, manufacturing, small-business development and foreign exchange earnings. The rules do not require any affirmative resolution and will be signed by the relevant minister to become part of the law. “The players in the industry have been waiting on these to be tabled, so it is important that it doesn’t just pass silently into law, but at least something is said to alert the country and the players that we have now completed a very important part of the framework,” Holness said. SEZs represent a wide variety of geographically demarcated areas that offer simple and efficient business regulations and procedures for investors. The Special Economic Zones Act, which came into force on August 1, 2016, provides for the designation, promotion, development, operation, and management of the zones, the establishment of a Special Economic Zone Authority, and the granting of incentives in order to attract domestic and foreign investments.   Business-friendly environment Prime Minister Holness noted that the administration is seeking to create a business-friendly environment with the requisite governance in place. “We have to strike the balance and to ensure the required interconnectivity to drive us forward. It is this relationship among a range of service providers, infrastructure developers, providers of goods and technology and services that will ensure the linkages in our economy, to ensure our growth and job creation success,” he said. Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170919/pm-tables-special-economic-zones-regulations