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SA target Netherlands & Belgium for BPO business

Date: 2010-05-28Back to news page

Source: 2010-05-26

 Over the past 5 years the South African BPO sector has matured from a developing third world destination, into a world class operation. This change has resulted in various multinational companies outsourcing to South Africa.

At present there are a number of UK and US based operations working out of South Africa, but due to English being the primary business language for these destinations, we are also in direct competition with the likes of India and the Philippines, says Fagri Semaar interim CEO of BPeSA Western Cape. “To allow us to compete with these global players, we need to build on our traditional BPO markets, while also looking abroad for opportunities in emerging markets.”

On the back of the recession, more and more European destinations have begun to look at outsourcing as a feasible cost saving alternative. “There is a definite demand coming out of Europe, but with English not being the business language of choice for a number of countries, these markets are not being effectively catered for,” adds Semaar.

In an effort to further grow the South African BPO footprint, BPeSA Western Cape has begun to look to the likes of Belgium, Netherlands and Germany for investment opportunities.

Semaar believes that with the number of Afrikaans speakers, South Africa is well positioned to cater for the likes of the Netherlands and Belgium. We also have German speaking capabilities, which could be developed to cater for that specific market.

According to the latest DTI report from 2005 to 2008 the BPO sector created 1 172 000 new jobs in India, and 271 465 in the Philippines, while in South Africa the number of people employed by the industry is expected to reach 100 000 by 2014.

“South Africa needs to take advantage of this global BPO demand. With a large skilled labour force, time zone affinity with Europe, excellent voice and back office processing systems, we can expect to see continued growth in 2010 and beyond,” says Roland Govender interim Chairman of BPeSA Western Cape.

“There are still a number of unsaturated markets with a demand which has yet to be filled successfully, if we can harness these emerging markets, while continuing to grow our presence in the UK and US, we will reduce unemployment, increase foreign investment and help drive social upliftment,” adds Govender.

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