Representatives of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and South African Contact Centre Community (SACCCOM), the Indian and SA national contact center and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry bodies, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) designed to drive closer cooperation between the two organizations with a view to increased business and information sharing.

Commenting on why India should assist contact center and BPO growth in SA, rather than seeing the country as a competitor, Md Shahab, vice-president of NASSCOM, says: ?There are many reasons why this agreement is good for India as well as SA. For example, the global outsourcing trend now demands that companies spread their risk, which means they do not want all of their outsourced support services in a single country. Many European companies also require multilingual call center support and India can only provide this in English. We see aligning with SA, with its excellent infrastructure, language skills and favorable time zone positioning, as a definite strategic advantage.?

The agreement covers cooperation across a wide range of areas, including the sharing of information, publications and research reports, joint surveys as well as best practice and lessons learned in the dramatic growth of the sector in India. It includes a commitment to joint trade missions and conferences, the sharing of contacts, the pursuit of mutual business opportunities, and the facilitation of alliances with companies in each country.

?The speed of India?s growth to become the world leader in this sector is a demonstration of what is possible when the right conditions are created,? says Mfanu Mfayela, CEO of SACCCOM. ?We expect significant benefits to flow to SA from this commitment to cooperation with us, as we strive to meet the expectations for growth in this sector.?