1. Sunil Sinha Technical Director Emerging Market Economics December 2006
Strategic Plan for the Promotion of Professional Services Exports in Barbados – Business Development Services
Sunil Sinha
Technical Director
Emerging Market Economics
December 2006

2. Overview Strong international demand in market segments:
Legal Services: global outsourcing market to top US$163 billion this year; low-end (billing) and high-end (patent applications, legal research) services outsourced
Finance and Accounting (FA): outsourcing of these functions to hit US$47.6 billion by 2008; low-end (accounts payable/receivable) and high-end (budget forecasting, risk management) tasks outsourced

3. Market Sectors Legal Services Two models based on cost savings:
Multinationals using in-house operations in low-cost locations to serve global operations
Firms focused on providing outsourced services; clients are mainly corporates, some law firms
Finance and Accounting
Three models:
“Regular” model: outsourcing to one location
“Strategic” model: basic functions to low-cost area, complex functions sent nearshore
Large companies using captive centres

4. International Trends Legal Services
Some concern in profession in US/UK about professional responsibility implications of outsourcing; clients want secrecy
Still, strong growth in US; 35,000 US legal jobs to be outsourced by 2010, 70% to India
Finance and Accounting
Outsourcing cost savings can range from 25-50%, high end for offshoring; India main player, Canada has had some success as nearshore destination
5 main areas:
Transaction management (billing, accounts P&R)
Finance (performance analysis, budgeting
General accounting (reconciliation, statements prep)
Treasury and risk management (cash planning, audit)
Tax management (tax planning, filing, processing)

5. Local Capability Legal Services
Good base of well-educated, English-speaking professionals familiar with US/UK legal system
Finance and Accounting
~600 members of Institute of Chartered Accountants, can provide full range of services

6. Target Markets Legal Services
Primary market remains US, America expected to outsource US$5 billion in litigation support this year
UK less mature market, reservations over outsourcing stronger there
Finance and Accounting
US is largest outsourcer of FA functions
But the Europe, Middle East and Africa region is expected to see fastest spending growth in short-term

7. Market Positioning
Good base of skilled, internationally-trained professionals, but minimal cost advantage over target markets (particularly in law)
Structure of legal and accounting industry (few large players, many 1-2 person firms) does not lend itself to outsourcing, need to consolidate
Gaining position as nearshore outsourcer will depend on partnerships, perhaps investment to set up larger operations
Highly developed financial sector means specific related skills on offer
Proximity to US, Canada – nearer than India

8. Marketing Activities – Brand Awareness
Objective: Increase awareness among potential customers, brand and promote Barbados as centre for BDS
Integrated Website: Promote Barbados as a data safe location for quality legal and accounting services
Foreign Advertising: Limited, directed at key decision makers in companies, firms (both those that outsource and those that provide services)

9. Marketing Activities – Direct Marketing
Objective: Form strategic partnerships to generate export opportunities
Research: Identify suitable international partners for nearshore, identify industry trends to guide development of niche services
Database: Use to track contact with public/private sector contacts, relationship-building tool
Monthly e-zine: Circulate to database contacts to inform them of developments/opportunities in the sector, “excuse” for follow-up calls

10. Enabling Environment
Objective: Address local factors constraining growth
Local Partnerships: Continue to build partnerships between different service providers, to increase scale and product offering
Collaboration and JVs: Low profile (need to sell Barbados as well as product) and lack of scale constrain outsourcing, partnering with major foreign providers addresses these problems
Incentives: Incentives for export are sound, provide ways to improve margins; need to tailor incentive regime around investment to encourage service providers to enter the country, increasing scale
Use of Technology: Do laws need to provide for data protection/security to facilitate for e.g. use of systems that recognise printed characters. Allows for large-scale tasks without large-scale labour

11. Thank you