Why ‘Repackaged’ Free Trade Zones Won’t Cut it for Latin America’s Evolving Offshore Services
January 11th, 2011
Tucci: "The services industry requires a lot more sophistication than what the FTZ operators are used to"
By Tarun George
Free Trade Zones are a big part of the sales pitch for many Latin American countries, but the challenge for investors is finding facilities that are up to the demands of 21st century professional services requirements . The fact is that most FTZs are textiles, manufacturing and goods export-oriented, which are now being repackaged to fit the BPO and ITO industry.
In this special Q&A with Nearshore Americas, Mario Tucci, a respected global business consultant and former executive with Tata Consultancy Services, tells us why that won’t cut it anymore, and why companies are looking for benefits far beyond purely tax savings.
By Ann R. Harts and John R. Roberts III
It’s never easy to figure out exactly what decision makers in contact center site selections might be thinking or what issues they deem most critical. This is especially true in today’s ever-changing economic environment. However, one thing is certain, fundamentals still matter!
Decision makers need to free up “bandwidth” to deal with this dynamic economic environment. The old adage, “you only get one chance” has never been truer than in today’s fast-paced economic development world. (Scroll to bottom of post to read Ann and John’s “Must Dos” for Latin America Economic Development Agencies.)
