BPO summit begins Thursday

A two-day long event on business process outsourcing (BPO) will begin on Thursday at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka, aiming to earn $1 billion from the sector.

The Information Communication Technology Division in association with Bangladesh Association of Call Centre and Outsourcing (BACCO) will organise the event where 47 local and twenty international analysts are expected to attend.

Both the government and BPO entrepreneurs also aims to create one lakh jobs in next five years, said Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, at a press conference at his office today.

“Our target is to earn $3 billion from the ICT sector by 2021 and BPO can contribute $1 billion to the earnings.”

Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy is expected to inaugurate the event. Ministers, senior officials and experts will also attend the programme as discussants, the organisers said.

Terming the BPO industry as a “very promising sector”, Palak said that already BPO industry created 30 thousand new jobs in the market which government plans to increase up to two lakh by 2021.

Palak also said India is currently the market leader in BPO sector, earning $80 billion a year, while the Philippines earns $16 billion and Sri Lanka $2 billion, and they got success in last few years.

India started its journey in the field of BPO 20 years back, he said. “We have just started and we are targeting to reach that milestone.”

During the first BPO summit, around 235 people got jobs in the sector, while another 10,000 showed their eagerness to work in the industry, organisers said.

BPO services cost 30 percent to 40 percent less in Bangladesh compared to the neighbouring countries, said Ahmadul Hoq Bobby, president of BACCO.

Organisers are expecting 10,000 visitors at the event and they will also offer jobs to 200 graduates. The summit will present success stories and show how this sector can impact the economy, Bobby said. “At the same time, we want this sector to be a source of employment for the youth.”

Around 88 outsourcing companies are currently working in the capital while another six companies are running their business from outside the capital, said BACCO leaders.

ICT Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder and leaders of BACCO and related organisations were also present at the occassion.