Itel Lands in Belize; Begins Building a Contact Center

Itel has entered Belize, beginning the construction of a 40,000-square-feet contact center facility within the free trade zone in Belize City.

The contact center, which itel estimates will cost US$2.5 million to build, will be operational by the end of October this year and will initially employ 500 people.

Yoni Epstein, founder and CEO of Itel, told the Jamaica Observer that the company’s headcount will reach 800 by the end of 2024 and that itel intends to use Belize to provide customer care services to Spanish-speaking markets as well.

itel, the Caribbean’s largest homegrown business process outsourcer, just announced their expansion into Belize, with an initial US$2.5m CapEX investment to retrofit a 40,000 sq. ft shell into a contact center that can house up to 800 employees. Read more: https://t.co/4vyhWd8JNj

— itelCX (@itelCX) April 14, 2023

Epstein explained that finding suitable employees is not difficult since the majority of Belize’s neighbors speak Spanish.

Belize’s Free Zones Act entitles itel to a 20-year income and corporate tax exemption.

Itel recruited about 100 employees in Belize in June 2022 as part of a pilot program to provide customer support services to its American customers. The program was a huge success, according to Epstein.

“However, the end game was for itel to have its own site in that country,” he said.

After evaluating many sites in Belize City since February, the BPO provider eventually signed a lease with a local landlord and began the construction earlier this month.

Itel, which is now in its tenth year of operations, expanded its activities beyond Jamaica in 2013 with the launch of a delivery center in Freeport, Grand Bahamas. With the purchase of Granada Corporation in 2017, it established a presence in Mexico and the United States. Today, the company operates in Guyana, Honduras and St Lucia as well.