Trade and industry minister Alec Erwin is to visit the US to promote SA`s ability to provide back- and front-office functions to large companies in the US in an attempt to attract direct foreign investment.
Angelo Manzoni, head of information and communications technology at Trade and Investment SA, says Erwin aims to raise SA`s standing as a global manufacturer and office support centre.
With business process outsourcing a key part of the department`s electronic manufacturing services strategy, Erwin is promoting back-office functions like data capture and front-office functions like call centres.
The department hopes to create 100 000 jobs by 2005 through call centres, which are between 30% to 35% cheaper here as opposed to the US because of lower labour costs.
With British company Dialogue UK announcing this week it will invest R20 million in a call centre in Cape Town, Manzoni says Erwin hopes to attract one of the big US companies to SA.
"SA meets all call centre requirements, having educated labour, a First World telecommunications infrastructure, along with political and economic stability."
Erwin will visit New York, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas and Atlanta, and will highlight opportunities not only in back- and front-office support industries but also in the aerospace, automotive and manufacturing industries.
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