Advanced Search

Share Coverage



Category: States and Territories / Telecommunications

Tasmanian Premier spruiks potential call centre jobs after mission to India

Monday, 12 Sep 2016 10:28:06 | Rosemary Bolger

Ricky Ponting and Will Hodgman talk to local media during the trade mission to India. (Supplied: Twitter)

Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman is hopeful his 10-day trade mission to India and Sri Lanka will generate more call centre, hospitality and education jobs.

Mr Hodgman returned from the state's inaugural official trip to South-East Asia on Sunday after meeting with politicians and potential investors.

"This is very reminiscent of what it was like, I expect, back in the 1980s when we first started to establish ties with China," he said.

"Since then, of course, we've seen a rapid increase in trade.

"I'm very confident that in future years we'll look back at this inaugural trade mission to India as Sri Lanka as pivotal to increasing trade in those countries as well."

Mr Hodgman used the opportunity to promote the state's pitch for Indian business Sutherland to base a call centre in Tasmania and invited the business services company to visit the state soon.

The Government has aggressively tried to grow the call centre sector, providing financial incentives and payroll tax relief to other businesses including Vodafone, Qantas and M2 Group to secure jobs.

Vodafone was the biggest beneficiary receiving $850,000 in payroll tax relief, on top of a $3.2 million Federal Government grant after the company promised to double its workforce.

However, the telecommunications company has reportedly fallen well short of its goal to employ 1,500 Tasmanians, with just 850 working at its new Hobart centre.

M2 Group, now known as Vocus, has also not delivered on its job plans and is reviewing its operations in Hobart.

Cricket was also on the agenda with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting joining the Premier in Sri Lanka and India.

Cricket Tasmania and Cricket Sri Lanka have agreed to work on a deal to run exchange programs and explore opportunities for training matches with Tasmania's first grade players.

During the trip, private education and training business B School launched plans to open in the state's north and offer leadership development courses for aspiring business executives from across the world, including India.

AustraliaPlus


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend