ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) — Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Dr Andrew Wheatley, says the local business process outsourcing sector (BPO), which is valued at more than US$400 million, continues to grow exponentially, and could reach US$750 million by 2020.

“Over the years, we have seen tremendous growth in the local sector, boasting a compound annual growth rate of 20 per cent per annum,” he said.

“Employment figures have more than doubled when compared to 2007. The BPO sector is now employing over 26, 000 persons islandwide. Within the sector, we have approximately 60 firms operating, including several industry heavyweights such as Xerox, Teleperformance, Sutherland Global Services, Alorica, HGS and Startek,” he noted further.

Wheatley was delivering the keynote address on the final day of the Outsource2Jamaica Symposium and Expo at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, St Jamesyesterday.

He noted however, that there are still too many people who are in the dark about the opportunities that the sector presents, pointing out that BPO is more than call centre operations.

“BPO is much more than that and its value, both locally and internationally, exceeds what most persons know or expect from the sector,” he said.

He pointed out that locally, the sector provides a wide range of services spanning medical, legal, financial, information communication technology (ICT), human resources, among others. Wheatley said he is very pleased that Jamaica has become an integral part of “a global movement” in outsourcing, an area, which he said, has been steadily becoming the preferred choice for many firms.

“At a global level, the sector is projected to reach US$262.2 billion by 2022 driven by cost benefits achieved by outsourcing back-office administration, the development of new generation technologies such as process automation, big data analytics, Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) and embedded analytics-based BPO,” he pointed out.

Growing competitiveness of global markets and the ensuing pressure on businesses to run efficiently and ensure cost effectiveness is providing opportunities for accelerated growth in BPO services,” he said.

The minister said he is also heartened by a recent study conducted with companies involved in outsourcing, which revealed that the sector is expected to see growth across all functions surveyed particularly IT, finance, and HR.

Jamaica, he contended, is in a good position to benefit from expansion in these services. The Outsource2Jamaica Symposium and Expo was put on by the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ) and its members and partners, including JAMPRO.

It ran from April 12-13 and was designed to provide a platform to raise the profile of Jamaica as a BPO destination.