Low tariff, open markets must for BPO: Carla Hills

Former United States Trade Representative Carla Hills on Monday said that a level playing field for the Business Process Outsourcing BPO s...

Former United States Trade Representative Carla Hills on Monday said that a level playing field for the Business Process Outsourcing BPO sector hinges on lower tariff regimes and an 8220;open8221; market in India.

8220;The US has a strong sense of fairness and equity, and when US has opened its market on the average tariff of two per cent, another large country India keeping its market closed is not fair. Each has political pain 8211; I think the remedy is to gradually open the market,8221; she said at a CII debate on outsourcing. She added that though 8220;adjustments8221; could be made during the transition period, the closed economies like East and West Germany did not grow. She also said that America could introduce further legislations to restrcit outsourcing.

8220;I would expect a lot of ideas to deal with the taxes and with other forms of regulation that would put propose limits on outsourcing. You have to see whether they are passed in the long run,8221; she said.

Hills said the backlash was not entirely an election issue. 8220;I think the issue of outsourcing is going to be in us for a while8230; We have a political problem,8221; she said.

8220;It is quite serious and is growing. Americans are losing their jobs in white collar high-end jobs. But it is not just in one direction. We have six million jobs today which are based upon foreign companies coming to outsource.

While the Indian industry associations have stressed that outsourcing is chiefly an issue for businesses in America and India to deal with, CII president Anand Mahindra emphasised that India should project data and facts that substantiate its claims that outsourcing is a win-win proposition.

8220;Project India8217;s efforts on tariff reductions so far and see that US does not use this as an opportunity to bully India,8221; he said, adding it takes time in India to reach consensus on such issues.