Page 19 - Islands Business January 2021

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“[BPOs are] a good place to start, doing data processing and
accounts payable. Because if they join a company, that’s Sandeep Prasad joined Centrecom
generally where they will start and then they work their way in 2016 as an IT support officer and is
up.” now a voice engineer with the company,
Similarly she says, Fiji is producing many information tech- where he manages and trouble shoots
nology degree and diploma graduates, but they would like to any issues with the voice platform of
see more of these workers ‘BPO-ready’, starting with teaching the business. He says his role involves
coding in schools for example. “There is already a huge de- a lot of self-directed learning and re-
mand for that because all the mundane tasks that a company search. Before coming to Centrecom he
has, we can look at getting that done through artificial intel- knew little about BPOs.
ligence,” she says. Prasad enjoys liaising with overseas vendors, as it really
Watkins says at the moment, if someone applies for a job in gives him an opportunity to learn new things.
a contact centre, there is still a lot of training required. “I’m “Working with BPOs is fun as long as you are willing to
not talking about the product training; I’m just talking about learn new things. That’s the major thing. Working in a
basic training on how to answer emails, all the soft skills. So BPO sort of environment, you have to be empowered with
that’s one of the things we want to work with tertiary institu- the new technologies available so you should be a willing
tions on, and put together programmes that the kids can go person to learn new products and should have an interest
through and at the end of it, come out being BPO-ready. in self-learning. That a major thing, I would say.”
Watkins hopes local institutions can eventually develop
courses that are accredited to Australia and New Zealand
standards, saying this would lend them more credibility. business park at the Kalabu Tax Free Zone near Suva, by fund-
So what skills are BPOs looking for? ing strategic marketing material and financial modelling to
“It’s people who are teachable,” Watkins says. “Thinking on meet the requirements and expectations of potential inves-
your feet that is one of the evaluations we do when we take tors. The park will offer new factory spaces featuring up to
anybody on board, that’s very, very important to us, just hav- 15,000 seat capacity, plus ICT and support services.
ing the ability to think outside the box. And that’s the other “We see huge potential to grow Fiji’s Business Process Out-
thing in India or the Philippines, a lot of the time [we hear] sourcing (BPO) sector, especially post COVID-19, as near-shore
people are just following the script to the t, they are not markets like Australia and New Zealand are likely to relook at
able to talk outside that.” their business outsourcing strategies,” said Lyndhurst Group
She suggests Fiji should also invest in teaching other of Companies CEO Rokoseru Nabalarua. “The Kalabu Tax Free
languages, for example Chinese and French, to build for the Zone Business Park will…offer ‘plug and play’ office setups
future. which will make it so much easier for companies to establish
themselves here.”
Future needs Carol Watkins says ideally, local BPOs would get Customer
The Fiji government is keen to see the sector grow. Tax Operations Performance Centre (COPC) accreditation. COPC is
incentives include a 13 year tax holiday, no duty to be paid on a standard that has been designed specifically for customer-
equipment used in outsourcing centres, losses can be carried centric service organisations like BPOs. But it is very ex-
forward for up to eight years, a 25% investment allowance for pensive, so train-the-trainers type programs may be a more
renovation of buildings, and 100% tax deduction for employer efficient and cost-effective way of getting to certification.
superannuation contributions. Ten BPOs have joined the BPO Council, although they don’t
Watkins suggests there will be a need for legislation that include Fiji’s biggest player, the 1000-seat Mindpearl opera-
protects the industry, so that new operators applying for a tion, which provides contract centre services to DHL, Ameri-
BPO license “meet certain criteria. We don’t want to be seen can Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Lufthansa amongst others.
as running sweatshops here, we want people to be treated Watkins hopes the formal launch late last year will encourage
properly.” more members to sign on and contribute to coordinated cam-
Similarly, “you don’t want companies putting their hands paigns to raise the industry’s profile.
up for something they’re not qualified to do, because it can While Fiji is well ahead of other Pacific Island nations in this
really quickly destroy the reputation we have built up,” she sector, other countries are interested. There was a short-lived
says. attempt in Samoa to set up a small call centre in 2019, and
“In terms of infrastructure, ensuring that the power supply Samoa’s Honorary Consul in the Philippines, James Donovan,
is reliable is key. If we have a cyclone and we have cyclones has promised to look into establishing a call centre in the
almost every year, we cannot be shut down for weeks you country through his impact investing and technology company
know, that’s just not going to work.” ADEC. The World Bank has identified Tonga as another poten-
The Australian government is supporting infrastructure tial location for BPOs.
development for the sector through its Market Development
Facility. MDF will help Lyndhurst, which is developing a new editor@islandsbusiness.com

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