ABOUT THE OUTSOURCE TO THE CARIBBEAN CONFERENCE (OCC)

In 2016, a Regional Investment Promotion Strategy was developed to assist the Investment Promotion Agencies of the Caribbean in their collaborative promotion of the Caribbean as a place to invest. The Caribbean is well positioned to take advantage of a US$140 billion industry that is growing by double digits and expanding beyond call centers into new areas that are a perfect fit for the highly educated, multi-lingual, services-oriented workforce in the Caribbean. These new growth areas include shared services centers, legal process outsourcing, human resources outsourcing, and finance and accounting outsourcing, to name a few.

The OCC will increase awareness of the Caribbean’s value proposition in the outsourcing sector, generating interest in the region’s offerings that can be converted into investments and jobs.

The first edition of the event was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica on 6 December 2017. More than 160 industry specific stakeholders from more than 20 countries participated in the event, with representation at the highest levels, including Ministers of Investment from the 23 Caribbean territories who are members of the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA), the heads of investment promotion agencies in the Caribbean, training institutions and telecommunications firms in the region, as well as potential Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) clients and investors from North, South and Central America.

It was agreed by the event organizers that the Conference would be held every other year in a selected Caribbean country.

Given the significant interest in OCC 2017, it was also agreed by the event organizers that OCC 2019 should be bigger and better and entail components to encourage the development of a BPO network in the Caribbean that can assist in the lobby for the continued development of the sector in the region. As such, OCC 2019 will include training workshops, an Expo, a Conference, Site visits and the first edition of the Caribbean BPO Awards.