Financial Times

New study on BPO industry here

A new study undertaken by the Information Communications Technology Agency by LIRNEasia will focus on Business Processing Organisations (BPOs) and provide an in depth analysis of this rapidly growing industry.

Sabrina Esufali, Project Officer- ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, in an article, said this study follows the need for data and information on the BPO industry and to guide its development.

She said the content will be beneficial in charting the course of this industry in terms of what needs to be done to liberalise bottle-necks, attract investments where required and also identify strategies for improvement in human capital. Additionally, the report is expected to include recommendations on how to minimise the constraints faced by industry and provide BPO industry executives with a decision-making tool.

Senior management from current BPO companies will be interviewed, and their valuable input will provide an accurate situational assessment of the sector in Sri Lanka and help identify the constraints to sector growth, she said.

According to her article: Technological advances, such as cheap mobile connectivity and high speed Internet access, have allowed for the rapid advent of services being traded in a global marketplace.

A small island like Sri Lanka relies heavily on exports that have traditionally concentrated on goods.

With the development of the BPO industry Sri Lanka now has the opportunity to reap the benefits of competing in the global services trade and ensuring increased employment and growth rates in the country.

BPO is the act of delegating responsibility to a third party for running functions or a series of tasks that would otherwise be an internal system or service. While India is the global leader in BPO, with almost a third of the global market share, the industry is still nascent here.

Sri Lanka’s strategic geographical location, skilled labour and relatively lower costs are a few of the key advantages that position the country as an attractive BPO destination.

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