11TH European Development Fund Implementation Report 2017- 2023

Success Story: iTel – Contributing to Sustainable Development in the Region

In 2019, iTel was named Caribbean BPO of the Year at Caribbean Export's Outsource to the Caribbean Conference (OCC2019). iTel, a Caribbean based business process outsourcing (BPO) won the award due to their focus on quality, reliability, integrity and family. The company’s CEO, Yoni Epstein, participated in the OCC2019 held in Curacao where 140 delegates convened to explore investment opportunities in the Caribbean outsourcing sector. At the event participants were able to meet with Caribbean investment promotion agencies (IPAs) to understand more about what was available to them and it was here that Epstein was able forge a relationship with Invest Saint Lucia. In 2020, iTel expanded into Saint Lucia creating more than 450 jobs initially, and in 2021 a further 300 jobs were created. Also in 2021, the company expanded into Guyana through a merger and acquisition of the firm EMERGE BPO, resulting in 850 new jobs. “Without a doubt, the OCC event provided an opportunity to speak directly with the IPAs and secure information needed to make sound business decisions,” notes Yoni Epstein, CEO of iTel. “The work we do in collaboration with Caribbean Export in investment promotion takes at least 18 – 24 months to bear fruit. iTel is one of the companies we are proud to partner with as its expansion has resulted in more than 1,500 jobs being created across the Caribbean, mainly for Caribbean women” shared Annette Mark the President of CAIPA and Executive Director of InvestSVG. iTel (formerly iTelBPO) is an international, award-winning customer experience partner, with operations across the Caribbean, Latin America, U.S., and Canada.

Implementation of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Regional Private Sector Development Programme (RPSDP)

41