Pakistan Rising

0
706
views

In an excellent 1/23/05 article, "U.S. Firms Pick Up Pakistan's Call for Outsource Work," LA Times staffer Evelyn Iritani describes the growing Pakistani outsourcing market. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pakecon23jan23,1,3595277.story.

"Like India," she notes, "Pakistan has a large number of educated English speakers willing to work for a fraction of U.S. wages. Operating costs are low, in line with other parts of South Asia. To boost its appeal as a high-tech hub, the Pakistani government has provided a 15-year tax exemption on software exports, eliminated duties on technology imports and streamlined the investment process."

Bob Din, who immigrated to the United States in 1970 and is now chief executive of En Pointe Technologies in El Segundo, California, initially considered India for outsourcing his firm's back-office functions, such as sales and service, but finally decided to give his native country a try and now outsources back-office operations to Islamabad-based Ovex Technologies. Din's take: "In software programming, India is way ahead of Pakistan," he said. "But in general business back-office work, people in Pakistan spoke well and understood the processes."