A US$5 million telecommunications contact centre will be established in Berbice this year following the signing of a memorandum of understanding yesterday between government and Caribbean-based Ask4Solutions.

Prime Minister Sam Hinds, who signed on behalf of the government, said the development of the centre would provide over 400 new employment opportunities in the next 18 months, as well as structured development for the expansion of information technology-related skills in Guyana.

Ask4Solutions is a group of companies operating in the Caribbean with offices in St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Miami in the USA.

The group is expanding beyond consultancies to include the building of contact centres, starting with one in St Lucia which will be launched in April.

President of Ask4Solutions, Kevin Ashley, said the centre will deal with voice traffic and telemarketing.

The group will be targeting markets in the Caribbean, the United States and Europe.

Ashley said the group has commenced discussions with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Co Ltd (GT&T) and it is his intention to connect the centre via GT&T's international links.

GT&T has offered a competitive solution, he said, and the group was hoping to work out a deal with the company or the alternative would be to connect via satellite links.

He stressed, however, that the preferred solution was to use the service provided by GT&T.

Hinds said government was willing to license satellite links with companies providing that their systems did not infringe on GT&T's monopoly.

He disclosed that some ten companies have shown interest in establishing call centres in Guyana and government hoped to have about three in operation by the end of the year.

Director of Go-Invest, Geoffrey Da Silva, stated that Ask4Solutions would also be providing a data processing service and was currently meeting with companies in Linden and Demerara on the venture.

He said GT&T would benefit tremendously from the development.