From South Florida Caribbean News

Kingston, Jamaica –  The Government of Jamaica, through the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) and funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), has contracted the services of a National Coordinator for the country’s Outsourcing industry.

The coordinator, business leader Roger Williams, will be based at JAMPRO with the mandate of creating an environment to boost local and foreign investments in BPO, and increase JAMPRO’s capability to create a significant number of jobs.

He brings over 20 years of experience in management and leadership and industry insight on the BPO sector, having led one of the top outsourcing companies in Jamaica.

As General Manager of Vistaprint Jamaica Limited, Williams achieved 130+% growth to the company, achieving world class service performance status under his leadership and gaining recognition as the top performing Vistaprint Contact Centres worldwide.

Mr. Williams has been engaged to advance current initiatives to help grow the Outsourcing sector, as well as to identify and introduce new strategies that will support the national target of creating 50,000 additional jobs in the industry.

There has been wide recognition across Government that there is great opportunity for future expansion in the sector, which now provides over 25,000 jobs in Jamaica and grew by 15% in 2016, almost double the global rate.

The Coordinator will be a central part of the newly-formed Minister Chang-led National IT-BPO Task Force, which is focused on improving Jamaica’s readiness for BPO investments, and which will oversee the implementation and updating of a BPO industry development work plan. That work plan was a part of the National 5-Year Outsourcing Strategy, which was agreed by Cabinet in 2015.

As the National Coordinator, Mr. Williams will play a critical role in working with Government Ministries and Agencies to improve Jamaica’s talent pool for BPO, to create new infrastructure for BPO companies, and strengthen Jamaica’s policy and incentives framework for the industry.

JAMPRO President Diane Edwards said, “Jamaica’s Outsourcing sector is expanding at a rapid rate as new companies, and those who are already in the market want to invest and re-invest in Jamaica because of the high quality of the talent and excellent performance. In order for Jamaica to maintain high levels of growth, it is critical that we maintain high inventories of suitable space and improve the upskilling opportunities for our workforce.”

Ms. Edwards also noted that JAMPRO believed that this level of coordination was important to the growth of the industry given the various roles and responsibilities across Government that contribute to its development.  She noted that putting the Coordinator in place was a step in the right direction to create the environment required to increase jobs in the sector, and ultimately support the growth targets set by the Government.

Edwards explained, “With the assistance of the National BPO Coordinator and the dedication of the Task Force, JAMPRO is sure that we will be able to facilitate companies who want to invest in Jamaica. Through a strategy of aggressively pursuing the development of the BPO Sector, and the diversification of job opportunities for Jamaica’s youth, we will be able to create more jobs for Jamaicans.”

JAMPRO Chairman Senator Don Wehby said that he was pleased to welcome the Coordinator to the team as the Agency intensifies its marketing strategy to encourage BPO investments. Referring to earlier statements made about the Agency’s strategic thrust, Sen. Wehby said that the Board of Directors was focused on using more targeted methods to increase investments coming to the country.

Sen. Wehby said, “For JAMPRO to successfully attract investments, we must ensure that the environment is right to allow them to thrive. This BPO Coordinator will assist us with managing the sector’s performance through engaging stakeholders, and creating the atmosphere that is needed to allow rapid growth of the industry. This will lead to more jobs and innovation in the sector, and I am anticipating great success coming from this initiative.”