KARACHI (February 24 2006): $8 billion business is awaiting Pakistan if the local call centres actively market themselves for capturing information technology-enabled services (ITeS) that India is unlikely to go on with any more.

The Indian business process outsourcing (BPO) could be eroded by 45 percent of the country's market share by 2007, due to labour crunch and rising wages.

India enjoys 85 percent of the world BPO market share that works out to roughly $18.5 billion. The Indian industry analysts see the country's outsourcing industry would be facing a serious problem.

Information technology experts told Business Recorder on Thursday that some important elements hindering the growing Pakistan market's entry into this billion dollars industry are: lack of training and development of quality human resource, absence of international marketing of services, non-building of brand image, etc.

There is need to properly prepare our BPO sector to cash in on such a significant shift of business from India.

The experts believed that "There is so much business for call centers that if today there are 50 call centers in Pakistan, each with 500 seats, still there will be need for more seats by international companies."

The BPO sector seeks subsidies in training costs from the government by providing subsidy up to 75 percent to students getting trained in call centre operations.

In this way, the call centres will be able to bring in high quality trainers and create modern facility for training.

Secondly, subsidies on utility bills by providing substantially low power rates at custom-built facilities for Call Centres and ITeS/BPO complexes.

Thirdly, the bandwidth charges on usage for call centres not running at capacity.

It is proposed to attract persuading investors and builders to enter into joint ventures and partnerships in creating "Intelligent Buildings" which may be declared as Export Processing Zones (custom bonded facilities).

The utility should provide free satellite and submarine cable facilities including its back-up. The government should provide visa relaxation for foreign trainers, especially those coming from India and long-term visas for Indian experts.

Special rates for advertising subject to authorisation by Press Information Department for registered call centres to run their awareness campaign on national and regional TV/satellite channels, alternately, 75 percent cost of such public awareness media campaigns should be subsidised by the government.

The experts have proposed that all MNC's be invited by ministry of finance to present them with an idea about the capabilities that ITeS could offer to their international offices.

The MNCs asked them to convince their head offices to outsource work into Pakistan. The companies implementing this strategy should be offered discounts and subsidies.

The experts said that there should be no fear that business is not available in the international market or this industry is not viable.

More importantly, a host of emerging countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Eastern European nations, including Hungary and Poland, are also starting to challenge India's leadership in offshore BPOs.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=3906...&term=&supDate=

Eaxactly my sentiments!

Akbar Ilah Abadi said:
Kha double roti, clerky ker, khshi say phhol jaa..

Call centers, the cyber 'qoolees' ..

We should get into more exciting (and intelectual) stuff.

It really doesn't matter how India or the media portrays Pakistan if Pakistan offers much cheaper labor.

Well no one is eating no ones share here...we will earn out of our skill and capability....and we don't need to put any comparison in it...we have our own grounds to grow...so leave others aside...As for the call center bussines. It has bright future in Pakistan. as Pakistan have skill and relatively cost effective human resource capital and with more and more submarine cables are coming.

The Universal Requirements for a Capable IT industry:

1. World Standard Workers Trained At Capable Universities
2. Infastructure to handle the requirements of IT companies
3. Proper Transparent Management
4. World Quality Companies / Name Brands
5. Marketing to all Markets, not just The US

To be quite serious about this whole issue, Pakistan seriously lacks Human resources needed to develop a competetive outsourcing alternative to India. Just because India's have bad accents, it is not to take anything away from their knowledge of the English language as compared to Pakistanis. I actually know of a company in Pakistan, Haukah, they provide various out sourcing alternatives to UK companies, I talked to the CEO. His main issues were the following:
1. For NRPs it is nearly next to impossible to set up the infrastructure needed for turning cash investement into an actual buisness.
2. He also complained allot about the amount of interviews they needed to conduct for finiding the right canidates.
3. He also complained about the thick layer of beurocratic red tape he had to get through, this too with good connections etc.

BOttom LIne: It is too damn hard to invest in Pakistan, while Pakistan is presented with oppurtunities and many drool over the prospets, this really is a classic case of a peasent looking from the outside in through a window at an expensive suit in some depertment store.

True. Very important to have a good pool of resources to tap into. Service sector is highly resource oriented than anything else.

The only way out is for govt. to encourage more and more local companies and also to provide all help to IT depts in universities. Then have industry-academia co-operation so that the resource pool can be readily tapped.