First ever BPO Summit Bangladesh 2015 to be held on December 9-10
BACCO plans to create 2 lakh BPO jobs
Says Ahmadul Hoq, president of assoc of call center and outsourcing
Kaniz Fatima
Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a growing sector worldwide with an industry worth over $500 billion. Though the neighbouring countries India, Sri Lanka and Philippines are now leading the worldwide BPO industry, Bangladesh is lagging far behind in the sector.
India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines market size in the industry is worth $80 billion, $2 billion and $16 billion respectively.
Bangladesh shares the same geographical advantageous, but it is still not capable to emerge as a global outsourcing hub. Only around 25,000 people in the country are now involved in the BPO sector.
To create the right value proposition and environment to attract both domestic and foreign investment and clients as well as to showcase the success stories of BPO industry of Bangladesh to the world, BACCO and ICT Division is going to arrange the first ever BPO Summit Bangladesh 2015. The two-day long summit will take place on December 9 and 10 at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon
in Dhaka.
The aim of the summit is to establish global recognition of Bangladesh as the preferred destination of choice for business process outsourcing, identify
challenges and develop national level policy, and to create a skilled workforce, Ahmadul Hoq, president of Bangladesh Association of Call Center and Outsourcing (BACCO), told The Independent. It is a congregation of all the relevant stakeholders under one
roof to accelerate the BPO vision 2021.
We have a plan to create employment opportunities for 200,000 youth by
2021 through different programmes in partnership with governments, organistions and other companies, through the summit we
want to crate awareness and initiate a debate to this effect, he added.
We have advantages to capture the worldwide BPO industry and we are going forward in the sector, he said adding: Our country is located in geographically advantageous location in terms of time zone as well as government declared BPO as a thrust sector. Bangladesh also has competitive cost advantage to other emerging countries.
When asked why Bangladesh is lagging far behind in the sector than its neighbouring countries
like India, Sri Lanka, the BACCO president told The Independent One of the reasons we started in late. India began BPO 30 years ago but we get lincence in 2008.
Another problem is lack of skilled manpower. When we started BPO in the country, we could not appoint skilled manpower as the university students were not knowledgeable enough to work in the sector. We had to train up them around six to eight months. Now the scenario is little bit improved but still we have to do more. We need to create a link between institutions of higher education and BPO companies to retain talents, he farther said.
Hoq said local experience is needed to get international job. But local BPO business started only two or
there years ago. Now mobile phone operators like
GP, Banglalink started outsourcing.
If we have work experience in bank and insurance arena, we can show it to our foreign clients, he said.
BPO is not an industry like other industries. We cant sale product. It is an extension of the company where a company outsources its work. So we need to build connectivity among the stakeholders, Hoq said.
To get the international works, it is needed to do work at night. We have huge young workforce, but in our society, in most cases family members do not prefer anyone to work at night. So, a positive mindset is required to overcome the stigma
of society to empower Bangladeshi youths at global arena, the BACCO president also said.
If our young population is engaged in work, they will spend their income in domestic market and that will help benefit the national economy, he added.
The BPO summit includes programmes engaging
youth to imagine and develop their potential by connecting them to further opportunities in skill development, employment and entrepreneurship.
It will also focus on
policy and process on infrastructure readiness, E-Governance, confronting challenges, women empowerment and create social awareness and acceptance of the industry.
This summit will help the BPO sector of Bangladesh to streamline a road-map with proper collaborations and policy support to become a USD 1 billion industry by 2021 and contribute prominently towards the GDP growth of the nations economy.
