MONTEGO BAY, St James – THE Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ) and the HEART Trust/ National Training Agency (HEART/NTA), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will see both entities collaborate to develop suitable vocational training programmes to equip persons seeking jobs in the industry.

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, witnessed the signing during a Breakfast Forum staged by the BPIAJ at the University of the West Indies, Western Jamaica Campus, last Friday.

Minister Paulwell noted that the potential in ICT, and in particular the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector, is vast. He pointed out that Jamaica has not as yet achieved the level of success that the Government in 1998 intended, but a lot more understanding and learning has taken place since then.

“What I am determined to do this time around is to ensure that rather than just a minister going out crusading, we really try to build an effective partnership. It is partnership that is going to enable Jamaicans and this country to move forward, especially in relation to some of the new areas and industries,” he stated.

He said that the Government, through his ministry, has been at pains to try to get the necessary partnerships going. These partnerships involve the Ministries of Finance; Industry, Investment and Commerce; Education and all their respective agencies.

He described the BPIAJ as a very important aspect of the partnership, adding that the organisation is a most welcome development in the ICT and BPO industry because of its effective lobbying strategies.

Minister Paulwell said that he was particularly pleased at the development of the MOU between HEART/NTA and the BPIAJ, adding that it will take the nation “to that layer of the matrix that we have not been able to satisfactorily fulfil over the years.”