As Government continues to foster an environment for job-creation, as well as opportunities for young people to earn and be part of the ongoing development in the country, a new business process outsourcing (BPO) centre was today commissioned during a simple ceremony at Enmore by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service Dr. Ashni Singh. Dr. Singh was joined by Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony at the new facility. The BPO centre will see hundreds on the East Coast of Demerara and other surrounding areas being employed. A job fair was also held at the site where persons were able to sign up on the spot for an opportunity to be able to work at the centre.
The BPO centre is being operated by VChart Services which has successfully established its reputation in the field of Medical Billing /Revenue Cycle Management, becoming one of the choicest business partners with leading Healthcare providers across the United States of America. It has centers in India, USA, and Guyana, where calling and voice functions, primarily, are handled. All centers are HIPAA Compliant, and the Company has obtained SOC2 Certification. affiliated with medical billing services and revenue cycle management.
Addressing a large number of young people at the commissioning ceremony today, Dr. Singh reaffirmed Government’s commitment to partnering with the Business Processing Outsourcing sector to enable its growth and expansion in the country.
“First of all, when our party, the People’s Progressive Party, returned to office in August of 2020, one of the first things that we recognized was how important it is to create jobs, and in particular, how important the telecommunication sector is as a potential generator of economic opportunities. One of the first things that President Ali did, I think he did it within one month of assuming office, was to bring into operation the new telecommunications Act,” the Minister explained as he pointed to the link between this and the liberalization of telecommunications in the country, freeing up the telecommunications sector to attract more companies and to attract more competition.
“What that has done is that it has reduced the cost of bandwidth to one tenth of the cost of what it was in August 2020. So that one act taken by the New PPP government has resulted in Guyana being a more competitive and attractive place for information and communications technology-based companies to operate,” the senior minister added.
Dr. Singh then alluded to Government’s ongoing investments in energy infrastructure including the Gas to Energy project that will increase generating capacity, reliability and competitiveness. The Minister also emphasized on the country’s talented population with young people coming out of high schools with a strong educational foundation, literacy skills, communication and IT skills. These factors, he said, combine to make the country a highly competitive and attractive place for companies like VChart to do business.
Dr. Singh further noted that the building in Enmore was conceptualized by President Ali when he held the ministerial portfolios of housing and tourism.
Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony, who also spoke at the forum, explained that the Ministry of Health recognized the importance of electronics and digital health and has been working to create a digital health department.
“Things like medical imaging…there are special software that has been developed that can do the interpretation of medical imaging, but sometimes you need a mental transcriptionist to help to put together the patient’s information and all that. So that’s something that I think over time we’ll be able to work on. But there are lots of connections between what we’re doing right now in the health sector and what is happening, or what would happen in this facility,” Dr. Anthony further related.
The Health Minister also noted that the opening was a great opportunity for young people to gain employment.
VChart Services Guyana’s CEO Mr. Vinayak Shankar, who travelled from India for the opening and also spoke at the ceremony, pointed out that the journey of VChart in Guyana began in 2001, adding that VChart wants to put Guyana on the world map for back-office services. He also recognised Government’s efforts in supporting the growth and expansion of VChart in Guyana.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-invest) Dr. Peter Ramsaroop advised the young people gathered at the opening that success comes from determination, and that this is an opportunity for them to try something different, as he noted that government is spending a lot on the initiatives and is looking to expand this toward greater opportunities for them.
VChart opened its first office in 2023 in Georgetown and expanded to Tuschen in 2024.
