Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool and his finance minister Lynne Brown will tour the UK and Holland later this month to promote the province`s call centre industry.
The two-week trip will begin on 19 September and end 30 September, but Rasool will only take part in the first week of the tour.
Officials from call centre promotion agency CallingtheCape, the Western Cape trade and investment promotion agency Wesgro and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, will round out the delegation.
The Western Cape government says the tour`s objective is to promote the province as a viable destination for the call centre and business process outsourcing industry.
Brown said earlier this year that the call centre industry had been identified as a growth sector for the Western Cape`s economy.
Proof behind the reasoning
"This decision was based on proof that this year, the industry had added at least 1 000 new sustainable jobs in the Western Cape and is scheduled to grow even faster next year. For instance, one of the UK`s fastest growing insurance companies, the Budget Group, in February announced a R100 million investment to set up a call centre in Cape Town," says the Western Cape government.
The provincial government`s research has shown this industry is competitive and performing well compared to international competitors.
The Cape Town call centre industry comprises over 80 companies, operating over 100 call centres, and employing over 11 000 people directly, with thousands more jobs in support industries. Wesgro estimates that higher levels of investment in this industry can create as much as 10 000 jobs in the next 10 years.
"The UK and Holland mission gives us an opportunity to promote Cape Town as a destination that offers the call centre investor robust technology and infrastructure, first-class service providers and staff that is skilled and friendly," says Brown. "And this is all done at a fraction of the price companies pay for operational costs in the UK, other parts of Europe and the US."
In the UK and Holland the delegation will meet with key existing and potential investors. It will host a lunch with the Dialogue Group, one of the biggest outsourcing companies in Cape Town, and meet Budget Insurance, which is already an investor in the province.
A series of meetings and interviews with South African vendors and UK consultants have been arranged to improve the profile of the country and the province as a destination for inward investment in call centres.
"We want to use the trip to raise the Western Cape`s profile as an investor-friendly destination to the UK business market. To ensure this happens, the premier and myself will also talk to some of the UK`s most influential business publications, including the Financial Times," says Brown.
The minister will also lead a South African delegation to the Call Centre Expo 2004, to be held in Birmingham on 29 and 30 September.
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