U.S. call centers expand rapidly in Caribbean


NEW YORK A number of
American corporations say
call centers in the Caribbean
are rapidly expanding in the
face of low-cost customer
service in the region.
 The corporations say
declining communication
costs, warm hospitality, and
better relations with United
States customers have also
contributed to call center
expansion in the region.
 "The islands all seem to
be really positive as opposed
to the surly attitudes you have
in some of the other places,"
said Robert Goodwin, manag-
er of AOL, a unit of the
Dulles, Virginia-based Time
Warner Inc., which has a call
center in St. Lucia.
 "It's cheery weather, it's
cheery people," he added in a
statement issued here.
 Goodwin said while AOL
still uses call centers in Asia
and other countries, the
Caribbean has been more
competitive, noting that sev-
eral regional governments
have been offering tax and
other incentives to attract
more companies. AOL said
Jamaica, for instance, offers
"free zone" status that per-
mits owners to send home 100


WASHINGTON, CMC In
the face of less supportive
external conditions, a top
International Monetary Fund
(IMF) official has called on
regional countries to build on
the gains they have made
since the 1970s.
 Speaking on the topic,
"The Global Outlook:
Implications for Latin
America and the Caribbean",
John Lipsky, the IMF's first
deputy managing director,
told the 40th annual meeting
at the American Association
of the Chambers of
Commerce in Latin America
(AACCLA) that "this is the
time to underscore the impor-


NEW YORK A Jamaican
has become the first Caribbean
national to head the oldest
minority trade association in
the United States.
 Maria Kong, who resides
in Florida, was elected presi-
dent of the 35,000-member
National Association of Real
Estate Brokers (NAREB) at
its 60th annual conference in
New York City.
 Kong also became only
the second woman to lead the
trade association.


- ~ !. .. . . . .


- w


Caribbean call centers are now a big attraction.


percent of their earnings that
are earned tax-free.

GLOBAL NUCLEUS
 Industry experts said
Jamaica is one of the leading
call centers in the Caribbean,
with about 14,000 employees,
making the region a new
global nucleus for call centers.
 Barbados, Trinidad, and
Dominica have also devel-


oped call centers dedicated to
customer service.
 Philip Cohen, an industry
consultant, said while the
region has taken a relatively
small share of the call market,
it is significant for its relative-
ly small population.
 "You put a call center with
100 people in Barbados, and
that's a God's gift," he said.
 "With 100 people in


tance of good fundamentals."
 He identified three areas
in which he said much can be
accomplished: investment and
 productivity;
 fiscal policy;
 and financial
 market devel-
 S opment.
 "The region's
 recent growth,
 while strong
 relative to its
Lipsky own history,
 still lags other
 developing
regions," Lipsky said.
 Nhr \1 r, faster growth
is a necessary condition in
order to make more meaning-


 Her election comes at a
time when African Americans
and other minorities are los-
ing their homes to foreclosure
at an alarming rate.
 "As real estate profession-
als, we have an obligation to
keep the dream of homeown-
ership alive," said Kong, who
owns the Lauderhill, Florida-
based firm, Markon Realty
and Management Company.
 "Seven-hundred homes
owned by African-Americans
in foreclosure status is unac-


ful reductions in poverty."

 By necessity, Lipsky said
this will have to be achieved
through a combination of
increased investment and
faster productivity growth.
But he said additional
progress is possible, noting
that the region's productivity
growth from 1990-2006 was
some two percentage points
per year slower than that of
emerging Asia over the same
period.
 He said investment ratios
in the Caribbean and Latin
America are also "substantial-
ly 1: 1\\ l r than the developing
country average by some


ceptable and erodes the frag-
ile stability of our communi-
ties," she added.

NATIONAL CAMPAIGN
 She said during her two-
year reign she would embark
on among other things, a
major national marketing
campaign to brand the name
of NAREB, significantly
increase the membership base
and forge new partnerships to
increase opportunities for
members.


 India, you can't
 even see it," he
 added.
 David Kreiss,
 the Atlanta,
 Georgia-based
 owner of KM2, a
 I collections and
 call-center firm
 that holds the
 AOL contract in
 St. Lucia, said he
 has opened a
 new call center
 in Barbados and
 is planning on
 further expand-
 ing once more
 fiber optic cables
 are installed.
 Philip Peters,
 chief executive
 of Coral Gables,
Photograph by Reuters Florida-based
 Zagada Markets,
 said Caribbean
 call centers have increased
 from 11,300 in 2002 to 55,000
 today, generating $2.5 billion
 in economic gain. He lauded
 the region for its high-quality
 service.
 "They have a history of
 troubleshooting with
 Americans without getting
 upset," he said.


six percentage points of the
Gross Domestic Product
(GDP).
 But the IMF official said
there have been encouraging
recent developments in
increasing and diversifying
trade in the region. He said
regional fiscal policy improve-
ments have been notable
recently, including increased
primary surpluses.
 But Lipsky said more
needs to be done to reduce
the dependence of public rev-
enues on commodities, noting
that current spending also
seems to be taking prece-
dence over public investment.
0


 Founded in 1947,
NAREB, which has 84 chap-
ters throughout the U.S.,
seeks to "address the need to
secure the right to equal
housing opportunities regard-
less of race, creed, or color,"
Kong said.
 iniiL its inception,
NAREB has consistently
advocated for and supported
legislation to ensure fair hous-
ing for all Americans," she
added.
0


 Business

 links key

 to CSME

GEORGETOWN, Guyana,
CMC Investment and col-
laboration between private
sector agencies in the
Caribbean community
(CARICOM) is pivotal in
making the dream and goal of
the Caribbean Single Market
and Economy (CSME) a real-
ity, says a senior regional par-
liamentarian.
 Barbados Deputy Prime
Minister Mia Mottley told a
gathering of business people
here that there were opportu-
nities for expansion of trade
in all CARICOM countries
and that those opportunities
should be carefully sought
out using partnership to
ensure their success.
 "The fact that we have
worked together within the
Caribbean community to
establish a single market last
year in less than 20
years...and the fact that we
continue to work towards the
beginning of the framework
for a single economy next
year is also indicative of the
commitment we have to
working with each other," she
said late last month.
 The minister of economic
affairs and development, who
led a Barbados investment
delegation to Georgetown,
said Guyana was ripe for
investment from other mem-
ber CARICOM countries.
 "We are cognizant that
even though Guyana has had
its economic difficulties we
have every confidence that
this country has the resources
and capacity to, with its peo-
ple, to lift those of us from
the rest of the Caribbean
community simply by using
the scale of resources, the
scale of expertise and the
commitment to be able to
want to do it," she said.
 The minister said Guyana
had food and renewable ener-
gy potential that could be
realized using resources from
the other Caribbean coun-
tries.
 "Agriculture is one of the
key areas that is a low hang-
ing fruit," she said, noting
that the region needed to
move to new production
measures to boost production
in the agriculture sector.
 Over 30 Barbadian busi-
nessmen visited Georgetown
last month as part of the
trade mission.
0


Build on gains of 1970s, IMF tells Caribbean


Jamaican heads oldest U.S. minority trade grouping


October 2007


CARIBBEAN TODAY


Nww.caribbeantoday.com