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Kathmandu Friday October 05, 2001 Ashwin 19, 2058.
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IT-enabled services growing
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Oct 4 - Despite some hitches,
IT-enabled services are showing signs of growth in certain sectors in recent times. As
there has not been much progress in the field of information technology (IT), the history
of the services is fairly new.
Besides earning foreign currency and producing
some highly skilled and skilled manpower, such services also employ hundreds of youths.
Some of the joint ventures have paved the way for more foreign investment in the sector.
IT-enabled services like Geographical
information system (GIS), medical transcription (MT) and Call Centres are in operation and
their entire business depends on foreign companies which they get through contracts.
Though one medical transcription company was
closed a couple of months back, it has not affected the inflow of contract for MT as
another such company has come up with a larger scale of business recently, creating hope
among aspirant investors and job seekers. Beginners in GIS, Call Centres and MT in general
get a basic salary of Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 and highly skilled manpower draw as high as Rs
80,000 per month plus other benefits.
Unlimited Numedia, an IT company that has been
in the MT for about two years, has made a three-year agreement with an American company
for a large scale business. And on the strength of the agreement, Unlimited has signed an
agreement with Employment Promotion Commission (EPC), a state-funded agency, to provide
jobs for 1,500 youths in MT.
Allen Tuladhar, CEO of Unlimited Numedia, says
that opportunity in MT business is ample as there are many organized outsourcing industry
in the US and Nepali companies can deliver the service earlier than the US companies
because of almost 12 hours’ time difference.
Quoting a report of American Association of
Medical Transcription, Allen says, the total volume of outsourcing MT business from the US
to the third world countries is worth US $ 8-10 billion a year. And the growing number of
ageing people in America would further increase the business, he adds.
EPC is providing an interest free loan of Rs
25,000 to all 1,500 to train them in MT, which the trainees have to refund within a year
in 10 installments after they get job. The company has guaranteed the job for them for two
years.
Binod Kumar Bhattarai, Member Secretary of EPC
says, the Commission has made a tie-up with Unlimited to provide job to 15,00 youths 500
each in the eastern, central and western development regions.
Bhattarai also said that EPC is mulling to
provide training to more youths in legal transcription.
Though some of the people involved in the
business are more optimistic, some modestly say that Nepal still cannot go for hard core
products.
Bijendra Shrestha, Managing Director of Meiken
Digital Technology, a joint venture with a Japanese company in the GIS business, says
there is opportunity for doing the business provided companies can develop and produce
high quality software. But Nepal is not in a position of exporting hard core software, he
adds.
And he says that training and retaining manpower
is the biggest problem in Nepal, for which the private sector is largely responsible, but
the government should develop infrastructure. His company has employed 50 people.
Rabi Shah, Director, Himalayan Telecommerce Pvt
Ltd, a Call Centre, a company that provides information on particular companies to
callers, says due to low labour cost, readily available English-speaking people and low
infrastructure cost, there is potential of call centres.
Call Centres not only help people to obtain
information on various issues, but also generates foreign currency. Besides providing jobs
to hundreds of people, it also contributes to the revenue of Nepal Telecommunications
Corporation (NTC).
Himalayan Telecommerce, the only call centre in
Nepal, has been providing information on wide range of subjects in the country through its
‘Ask Me’ scheme. The company has employed 60 people. It has signed an agreement
with an American company for international service.
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