As Government continues to strive towards ensuring the economy is diversified by creating an enabling environment to attract investment in a number of sectors, Senior Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh visited and toured ‘Teleperformance’ Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) facility on Camp Street where he met with its Chief Executive Officer, Luis Barreto.
There, the Minister, CEO and other officials of the company discussed the company’s plans for expansion as well as ways in which Government can lend its support to allow for this. The Minister was accompanied by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Office for Investment, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop. The facility currently employs approximately 950 persons, fifty percent of whom work from within the facility and the remainder from their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the tour, the Senior Finance Minister lauded the efforts of the business’s founder who saw the potential for investment in Guyana and commenced operations in 2017. The business, even now in the current challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, has continued to enable the employment of hundreds of Guyanese, including young persons and single-parents. Minister Singh encouraged the business to strive to continue to assist in the development of the country through job-creation, noting that Government would also support any measure taken by the business to expand to other Regions of the country.
The Minister alluded to the number of persons who travel from elsewhere in the country to work in Georgetown and suggested that businesses expanding to other areas is always welcome by communities as employees and other job-seekers usually prefer employment in closer proximity to their homes.
“Teleperformance is one of the largest BPOs worldwide with a phenomenal global footprint operating in literally every single continent of the world with an almost universal coverage so Teleperformance is exactly the kind of Company that when we initiated our work in introducing BPO operations and attracting BPO investors into Guyana-Teleperformance is exactly the type of company that we wanted to attract. Thus, we are extremely pleased to see that the company has come to Guyana, has established operations and has grown in the manner that it has,” Dr. Singh said.
Dr. Singh reiterated that the BPO sector has the potential to create jobs, generate income, spur economic activity and improve lives generally and it is why the People’s Progressive Party /Civic (PPP/C) Government has been (since its previous term in office) promoting Guyana as a destination for BPO business which proved to be a success. He also alluded to the current Irfaan-Ali led Government’s strong support for any effort by businesses which aligns with its vision of diversification of the economy which will also contribute to ensuring the country maintains a stable macro-economic environment since it would be unwise for it to solely depend on its main sectors.
Meanwhile, during the Minister’s visit, the CEO gave a video presentation which portrayed Guyana as a unique and premier destination for BPO businesses, something which the Finance Minister said he was impressed with as it highlighted Guyana in a manner that Government would have wanted the country to be marketed in terms of its competitive advantages-as a premier, English-Speaking country with highly-educated citizens ready for the world of work such as in the BPO industry.
“We see this sector creating thousands of jobs in Guyana and not a lot of people know what is happening in the BPO sector and as part of the series of these meetings, I have been having-one of my objectives was to raise public awareness of what’s happening in the sector,” the Senior Finance Minister emphasised.
“In the pre-2015 period, we had already recognized the vast potential for BPO service, and we had invested a lot of policy effort into the sector,” Minister Singh said, explaining that Teleperformance is the ideal example of what can be achieved by persons willing to invest in Guyana.
The Minister had echoed similar sentiments during his visits and tours of other BPO facilities recently.
He had referenced the fact that many businesses internationally are recognizing Guyana as a prime destination for BPO services especially with its English-speaking population, its educated workforce and its close proximity to the United States of America and Canada.
Teleperformance, located at Camp and Robb Streets, commenced its Guyana operations in October, 2017. The company on a global scale serves more than 170 markets and has a presence in 80 countries, providing services in technical support, customer acquisition, sales and consulting. Teleperformance Guyana plans to increase its employment number to 1,200 by year-end.
