StarTek, announced the opening of its new contact center operation in Costa Rica. Luis Liberman, the Costa Rican Vice President inaugurated the center.

According to company sources, Startek launched operations in the services industry, in the first quarter of 2010 in a 440-seat facility, which when fully occupied can employ about 500 people. The new facility occupying 37,000 sq. ft. is located in the Free Zone America and is the eighteenth StarTek location worldwide.

StarTek, Inc., specializes in customer experience solutions in the business process outsourcing industry. StarTek’s comprehensive suite of solutions includes sales, order management and provisioning, customer care, technical support, receivables management and retention programs.

Also, the company offers clients a variety of multi-channel customer interaction capabilities like voice, chat, e-mail, IVR and back-office support. StarTek is headquartered in Denver, Colorado and it operates delivery centers onshore in North America and near shore in Costa Rica. Its offshore facility is in the Philippines besides having a virtual presence via its StarTek@Home workforce.

Gabriela Llobet, director general for CINDE, stated that the 27 contact centers in the country generate more than 15,000 job opportunities.

“StarTek’s arrival to Costa Rica illustrates the evolution that customer service processes have undergone, transitioning to more complex and multichannel platforms including telephone, fax, SMS, chat and e-mail all in a multilingual context,” Llobet said.

Larry Jones, StarTek’s president and CEO, said in a press release, “We chose to expand into Latin America for several reasons. In Costa Rica there is a large, well-educated, bilingual talent pool and a favorable business climate. This is why we included Costa Rica in our global expansion plans.”

Speaking on the occasion of the launch Foreign Trade Minister, Anabel González, emphasized the importance of the Services Industry in Costa Rica. StarTek opens up more job opportunities for the Costa Rican people, which is considered very important in the long-term development strategy of the nation.

He also said that both exports and investments were of crucial importance to long-term growth plans as it will spur more entrepreneurial ventures, job creation, and productive innovation.