The Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu on Tuesday said government was working to establish a national data centre to support the development of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. The BPO industry is an information technology enabled service industry in which clients from other parts of the world subcontract services of which they have low competitive advantage over, to local firms who have high competitive advantage in that area. He said government was working to put up fibre optics across the country to support the activities of the BPO industry to stimulate growth of the economy and make it a destination of choice for outsourcing. The Minister said this during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) and the Rising Data Solutions (RDS), a Ghanaian multinational BPO provider to design and implement a BPO-specific training course to be implemented by the GTUC. As per the terms of the MOU, the RDS would enhance professional skills through training by the GTUC faculty in BPO, staff interactions, exchange of experiences and best practices as well as employ qualified GTUC students to work with it. Mr Iddrisu, whose speech was read on his behalf by Mr Botingna Al-hassan, a Director at the ministry, said the BPO industry had become a fast-developing industry, driving the economies of many countries in the world. It is estimated that the sector could provide over 37,000 jobs for the youth by 2011 in Ghana, with an added value to the country's economy of over 750 million dollars. He said the country had the requisite human resource that needed to be trained and positioned to enter the industry and earn a decent living. He therefore commended the GTUC and the RDS for signing the MOU saying it would help equip the youth with the needed skills to enter the industry. Dr Osei Darkwa, President of the GTUC, said the industry was currently faced with shortage of manpower, which was restricting its growth. He said it was to reverse this trend that the GTUC signed the MOU with the RDS to develop a talent pipeline in the short and long term, which would ensure continuous supply of trained manpower to feed the industry. Dr Darkwa expressed the hope that the collaboration with the RDS would help equip students with skills in areas such as communication and listening skills, computer skills, telemarketing, accent neutralization and keyboarding skills needed to succeed in the industry. Mr A.J. Whitman, Public Relations Manager of the RDS, said the signing of the MOU was a landmark in developing human resource and relationships to drive the growth of the industry. He said the RDS was committed to creating jobs and would use its ability to drive the industry by entering into strategic partnerships that would allow for skills development based on knowledge-sharing. Source: GNA