Despite facing several challenges, the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) says its R173 million business process outsourcing (BPO) hub will be completed on time.
Speaking during the BPO week in Port Elizabeth, project manager Bruno Ponzo said the CDC BPO park had faced a number of challenges in the three years it had been in the pipeline, but it will be completed on time.
“One major consideration was the IT infrastructure and meeting requirements to create a world-class centre with the very latest technology. We needed to go wireless to be able to offer possible investors the best in IT technology.”
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Business Process Enabling South Africa hosted the BPO week.
In May, the CDC reported the construction of the 1 500-seat call centre in the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) was under way. The centre is set to cost an estimated R173 million and construction is expected to be completed by March next year.
Head of BPO for the CDC, Nkuli Mxenge-Mayende, says there has been a lot of interest in the hub. The body is holding discussions with stakeholders in Britain, India and SA to get them on board, he adds.
The DTI says the sustainability and growth of the sector is important and international partnerships would promote and market SA as a global destination.
Trade and industry minister Rob Davies previously stated that increasing investment was a government priority, and the DTI would find ways to reduce administrative and regulatory barriers.
The department recently opened a call centre in Soweto, which will operate as a public-private partnership model. The DTI says the centre, which will register and monitor the processing of investment applications valued at over R100 million, will improve the investment climate in the country and reduce the costs of doing business.
“We will look at ways to further strengthen the partnership between government and industry to provide an enabling environment for the sector,” says the DTI.
Share
