CAPE TOWN – The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, will launch the revised Global Business Process Services Incentive Scheme in London, UK on 14 December 2018.
The launch of this revised Incentive further supports and enhances South Africa’s Value Proposition. It will catalyse new investments in this sector and support employment opportunities for South Africans.
Minister Davies says that South Africa’s Industrial Policy Action Plan has identified the Business Process Services (BPS) sector as a key sector that can contribute towards economic growth and job creation.
“Since 2009 the programme has resulted in annualised growth of 22% year on year and led to the employment of over 38,600 full time equivalents (FTE) servicing international markets. The success of the sector has been a result of a coordinated approach encompassing a close relationship between government, the industry body Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPeSA) and investors such as Capita, Webhelp and ComputerCenter amongst others. South Africa’s BPS Industry is globally recognised and provides services to the UK, Australia and USA. South Africa received further acknowledgement in the sector by receiving the coveted “Offshoring Destination of 2018” award by the Global Sourcing Association (GSA),” says Davies.
Cost competitive delivery destination
According to Minister Davies, South Africa ranks as the 3rd most cost competitive delivery destination on a FTE cost per annum behind India and the Philippines. A recent benchmarking of global BPO delivery hubs estimated that South Africa is positioned to quadruple its global market share to 4% by 2030 and add approximately R100 billion to gross domestic product (GDP).
The industry continues to develop innovative and integrated omni-channel offerings to service clients in international markets, generating export revenues for South Africa. The sector has transitioned from its base of contact centre services to now offering services in medium to highly complex and qualitative functions across finance and accounting, analytics, legal, health and ICT technical support.
Minister Davies states that the launch of the Global Business Process Services Incentive supports the strategic objectives of government and builds upon the achievements attained in the sector in terms of foreign direct investment, employment creation primarily for youth, export revenue generation and transformation.
“The sustained growth in the sector is testament to South Africa’s resilience, world class service and niche service offerings. South Africa’s adaptability to meet international service standards on a cost competitive basis will be greatly enhanced by the revised Global Business Process Services (BPS) Incentive. The BPS Incentive will further complement the planned sector promotional initiatives to source markets that are used to showcase investment opportunities and South Africa’s value proposition to global investors and clients across source markets,” says Davies.