Qualfon Guyana begins another multi-million-dollar investment

Sep 05, 2013 News

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– expected to employ over 6000 persons

By Latoya Giles
Within the next two years Guyanese are expected to benefit from a multi-million-dollar state of the art Call centre campus which would be built by Qualfon, one of the leading business process outsourcing providers.

The announcement was made yesterday at the sod turning ceremony.  The campus would be built at Providence, East Bank Demerara to expand Qualfon’s capacity in Guyana and bring an estimated 6,000 new jobs over the next five years.
President Donald Ramotar pledged his full support for the project. Ramotar who delivered the feature address to the gathering dubbed the investment as “technologically important” for Guyana. Ramotar said that he is much esteemed that such a venture has come under his tenure as president.
According to the President; information technology is now an important component in the world. President Ramotar explained that IT has now penetrated every sector and trade and it is important for Guyanese to have this new and large investment by Qualfon. He said that the investment will put the country in new ratings which would definitely broaden Guyana’s economy.
“Government always wants to broaden the economy so that we are not just dependent on a single product” Ramotar stressed. With this in mind the president said that is why his government continues to stride to make the country more attractive for investors.
President Ramotar said that educating the Guyanese public continues to be one of government’s biggest responsibility. The president noted that there is room for improvement in this regard. He said that some of the problems the education sector may be experiencing are not unique only to Guyana.
“Some of the problems we have here in Guyana are not unique to us…some developed countries have the same problems…we are tackling our problems here,” the president stressed.  He said that the investment pits Guyana on the cutting edge of technology and will enhance societal development.
President Ramotar posited that his administration would continue to tab into critical projects in the ICT sector as well as other aspects of the economy including the energy sector, thus stressing the importance of the Amaila Falls Hydropower project.
Finance Minister Ashni Singh gave his full acceptance of the project. Singh told the gathering that this new investment shows that the diversification productive basin of Guyana has moved. He said that before this the Guyanese economy was driven by the three major sectors, rice sugar and bauxite.

He said that if any of those three sectors did not have a good year, Guyanese would have felt it. He said that government has recognized the intrinsic vulnerability of the situation excessive dependence of one or two of these sectors.
Singh said that the consequential vulnerability that it created, so there was the need for Government to lift themselves from it and it is in this reason why government embarked on a deliberate path to diversify the economy. He said that much is not visible to the casual observer.
Singh added that the hundreds of jobs that Qualfon has added, is remarkable. He said that there is a quiet revolution in the area of ICT. Singh said that Qualfon is here because the company recognizes that Guyana is good for business and for investment.
He said this revolution did not take place by accident, but it was a deliberate move by Government to improve the diversification process.
Chief Executive Officer for Qualfon, Guyana, Mike Marrow, said that his company is making this major investment in Guyana because the country is well suited to serve the contact career industry.
“Qualfon’s largest market is serving customers in the United States. Guyanese understand Americans…since they speak the same language,” Marrow said.
According to Marrow the performance of the Guyanese team is second to none. They have topped all the other international locations which house Qualfon offices.
He said after the completion of construction, Guyana will be one of the largest business hubs with well over 6,000 employees. He said that Qualfon continues to invest in employees; the company has the highest employee retention rates.
Within the next few weeks the foundation will be laid. The first phase is expected to cost somewhere in the vicinity of US$4M. Over the next two years the other phases will be completed and the cost is expected to triple.
Kaieteur News understands that the land was privately owned and was bought by Qualfon and they are still paying for it. The new building will also house an Arts and Culture Centre, accredited University, Medical Service.
There will also be a milk subsidy programme for employees.
Qualfon is a global provider of call center back office and business outsourcing services. Since 1996 Qualfon has delivered a strategic advantage for billion- dollar companies around the world.

 

 

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