Outsourcing could fetch billions

The potential of growth of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) business in Bangladesh is there in the books but in reality, we are miles away when compared to international companies. Even in India this is a highly profitable business managed by talented and skilled managers and operators. A BPO firm usually provides customer service on behalf of various organisations through telecommunication and internet services that has grown into a potential full-blown outsourcing industry.

In Bangladesh, by now, this sector should have developed into a billion-dollar industry thereby ranking among the top positions in terms of revenue earning. But a number of factors are found to be working as obstacles on the way. The foremost one is lack of communication skills of the operators and also others like absence of talented persons and lack of public patronisation.

We may recall that outsourcing came to Bangladesh in the form of call centres in the middle of the 1980s. Patronised by some front ranking private companies and banks the business spread through the 1990s and beyond. In the modern world, businesses are no longer limited within the borders but have gone international. This has created the opportunity for launching more and more outsourcing companies with local skilled operators. But the story of the growth of BPOs in Bangladesh is not as heartening as it should have been. An extensive report in Business Post yesterday on the subject says that though BPO is growing at a fast pace across the world, the picture in Bangladesh is not so encouraging. The report elaborates that worldwide, besides call centres, BPOs also provide a number of solutions or services for a local or foreign company.

We can take a look at the international position of this business. The Business Post report further says that according to the Grand View Research, an India and US-based market research and consulting firm, the global BPO market size was $232.32 billion in 2020, which is expected to reach $245.91 billion in 2021. The revenue forecast for 2028 is $435.89 billion. And according to the Bangladesh Association of Call Center and Outsourcing (BACCO), Bangladesh has a market share of just 1 per cent or $600 million only.

It is encouraging to note that the BPO business in Bangladesh has seen significant growth in the recent years, creating jobs for thousands of people. BACCO says that currently over 60,000 Bangladeshis are working in the industry. This Association hopes to earn $1 billion by 2025 and create employment for 40,000 more people. Some 300 companies listed by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) are currently involved in the BPO business. Of them, 170 are the BACCO members.

Market leaders talk about the importance of language skill, especially fluency in English, to shine in this sector. International customers cannot be satisfied with poor English communication skills. And this is a major obstacle on the way to grabbing a bigger international market share.   

The BPO business initially started as a call centre in our country, but now it is known as a contact centre. Businesspeople involved in the sector are seeking policy support from the government to give the sector a boost.

The major support includes a suitable curriculum in schools and colleges, waiver of VAT and taxes, removing existing legal barriers and promotion of Bangladesh’s BPO businesses in foreign countries.