Assitance from Foreign Affairs Ministry:

SLASSCOM to promote BPO industry

Charumini DE SILVA

The Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) will promote the local BPO industry in the UK and Ireland with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vice President, SLASSCOM, Dinesh Saparamadu told the Daily News Business, that the IT-BPO industry will grow at an average rate of 20 to 25 percent in the next five years. SLASSCOM aims at attracting more people to the IT-BPO industry, as there weren’t sufficient suppliers.

The industry has shown an improvement in the number of suppliers and it will help SLASSCOM to achieve the targets.

“At present we are planning to attract more investments into the BPO sector with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs targeting UK and Ireland in the near future,” he said.

The IT industry recorded a 20 percent growth while the BPO industry showed a growth of 10 percent. The BPO sector covers 60 percent of the IT-BPO industry. Due to the economic slowdown most of the BPO sectors went through a tough time compared to the IT sector.

“The industry is keen on investing in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. SLASSCOM also expects to woo the Sri Lankan diaspora who are interested in investing in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. There is a good number of engineers working for the IT-BPO industry and we are glad to work with the University of Jaffna too,” Saparamadu said.

The IT-BPO sector has become the fifth largest exporter in the country with a growth rate of 23 percent in 2007.

Earnings from exports in the IT-BPO sector have shown a steady upward trend during the past year and IT-BPO exports have surpassed US$ 213 million. There are over 300 IT and BPO companies operating in Sri Lanka - mostly small and medium companies and a few large global players.

The IT-BPO industry has been identified as a thrust industry by the Government. Recognizing the potential of the industry, the Government has taken several positive steps by providing fiscal and other incentives and concessions to fast track the development of the sector.