Seminar at ECLAC:
Experts to Discuss How to Exploit Potential of Offshore Corporate ServicesPublished: November 27, 2008New opportunities for Latin American and Caribbean nations in this area may contribute to economic development.
A seminar on Offshore corporate services in Latin America and the Caribbean organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), with support from the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO), was held on Tuesday, November 18.
The seminar was inaugurated at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile, by the Secretary of the Commission, Laura López, and the Executive Vice- President (CEO) of CORFO, Carlos Álvarez. Participants included government officials, academics and representatives of the private sector. Gary Gereffi, of Duke University (United States), was the keynote speaker.
Seminar participants discussed how to take advantage of the region's potential in offshore corporate services (OCS). The development of information and communications technologies has facilitated offshoring; that is, moving operations to more competitive locations. The range of these services is growing, starting with the traditional contact centers and business process outsourcing (BPO), and moving on to increasingly more sophisticated operations, including research and development, software development and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO). This array of activities is generating opportunities for developing countries.
Understanding the dynamics of offshore corporate services and the comparative advantages of different countries is important in order to make the most of this sector's contribution to development in the region.
More information (including the seminar programme and documents) is available here: