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Translation industry boom increasingly important: Experts
The translation industry going from strength to strength in the Asia-Pacific region is well represented by the growth of an estimated global market currently valued at $56 billion, according to the latest report by trend analyst site MemoQ.
The report said that the region remains one of the fastest-growing language service provider (LSP) markets, with nearly 20 LSPs ranked among the top 30 providers located in the Asia-Pacific region.
Global payments network, Veem, says in an ever-connected world, LSPs are essential for businesses and countries to communicate and trade.
“Business always relies on some sort of exchange and we rely on that to build relationships. However, international business is at another level,” it reported.
“Aside from the barriers of distance, borders, taxes and tariffs, international businesses face big challenges, such as language exchange. Moving money is one thing, but communication is square one. That’s why LSPs and translators are so important to business growth and development,” it said.
According to the MemoQ report, demand for LSPs is especially spurred by growth in both the education and medical sectors within the Asia-Pacific region.
“Asia-Pacific has the second-largest healthcare industry, with Japan’s pharma industry valued at $80 billion and China’s at more than $1 trillion. Therefore, we expect to see a growing need for medical translations from the two countries as they look to export.”
Indeed, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, supply lines for medical supplies became hugely important and as 2021 sees the roll out of the vaccine – some of which must be stored under 70 degrees Celsius – effective communication will be paramount.
The report also added that two leading trends in the education sectors are reliant on LSPs and language translation, which is further increasing demand in the region.
“The first is the rise of language studies in the Asia-Pacific region. Three hundred universities in China now offer translation courses and master of translation and interpreting (MTI) programmes. More university departments, such as maths and engineering, will offer specialised MTI programmes for those industries. This trend is expected to grow China’s translation workforce.
The other major education trend [affecting] the region’s translation industry is the growth of video-based educational content. As global education institutions switch to video, there will be an even greater need for audiovisual translation expertise in the Asia-Pacific sector. This trend will increase the demand for improved localisation for global students.”
In Cambodia, LSPs are still relatively small in scale, but there is a growing demand for services such as visas, recruitment, work permits, busineses licences, organisation logistics for overseas couriers, airline booking and more.
Founder of Cambodia-based LSP KSPN Service Co Ltd, Dith Sophanith said, “As competition heats up between the Asia-Pacific sector and the rest of the global translation industry, watch for developments of AI-powered tools and cloud solutions to help translators improve accuracy and turn-around times.”
On the macro scale, China and Japan are currently leading the LSP market in the Asia-Pacific, through big investments by their respective governments which are recognising the importance of improved LSP and translation technology.
China was the first, investing as part of its One Belt One Road programme, where part of the funding was used to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based translation software for use in the LSP sector.
Following China’s lead, Japan announced a $19 million investment in simultaneous interpretation technology, an AI-based software that will help with translations in some 15 different languages from across the region.
MemoQ said quality assurance remains one of the biggest challenges of the regional LSP industry. However, market leaders are looking to improve their performance by infusing artificial intelligence into their platforms.
“As competition heats up between the Asia-Pacific sector and the rest of the global translation industry, watch for developments of AI-powered tools and cloud solutions to help translators improve accuracy and turn-around times,” the report said.
The tech/LSP merge gained traction when China’s top LSP, Pactera Technologies, teamed up with Microsoft after winning the prestigious China System Integrator of the year award in 2019.
“The Pactera Cloud Partner alliance with Microsoft signals an exciting trend in the Asia-Pacific LSP industry and will foster more strategic partnerships between the tech sector and LSPs. This will become more crucial to the sector moving forward,” it said.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50800188/translation-industry-boom-increasingly-important-experts/