IT/BPO industry can reach $1b by 2015- ICTA CEO

Sri Lanka’s IT/BPO sector can be a one billion dollar industry by 2015 said ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) CEO, Reshan Dewapura delivering the keynote address at the Sri Lanka 2011 Economic Summit organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in Colombo recently.

According to Gartner the global potential for the ICT/BPO market is $1.5 trillion while the addressable ICT/BPO offshore market is estimated at $ 500 billion. Out of this only about 25 percent, i.e., $ 125 billion has been captured. The ICT/BPO offshore market is expected to grow to $300 billion within the next five years. Sri Lanka hopes to capture between 0.5 to one percent of this growth.

If this is achieved Sri Lanka’s IT/BPO sector could go well beyond being a one billion dollar industry by 2015 and become the country’s number one foreign exchange earner and employment generator by 2020.