Malaysia climbs the preferred outsourcing location ladder

Malaysia has been ranked as the fifth most preferred locations in the world for shared services and outsourcing (SSO), an improvement from its sixth placing last year, according to a study conducted by global consulting company Frost & Sullivan. "Over here, we see concerted efforts by the Government to attract the attention of global Fortune 500 companies," said Frost & Sullivan's vice-president, information and communications technology practice, Nitin Bhat. "While the Government may make certain efforts, it ultimately (depends on) the service providers, whether they are local or multinational," he said when commenting on Malaysia's prospects of climbing up the rankings at a presentation in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. In the study, India maintained its top ranking, followed by China, Ireland and Singapore which also retained their second, third and fourth positions respectively. Nitin added that in addition to Malaysia’s good quality infrastructure, if all the other relevant elements work together, there is a chance for the country to move up in the rankings, especially with the small margin between the countries ranked third and fourth