Pakistan to become call centre activity hub

by a correspondent of Jang Newspaper

KARACHI: Pakistan has captured the attention of global players in need of outsourcing call centres because of the upcoming conference titled "Call Centres - Investment Opportunities" to be held here on January 29 and 30.

This was stated by Abdullah Butt, President of newly launched Association of Call Centre Operators on Wednesday while talking to The News.The conference is being organised jointly by Eveready Communications of Pakistan and Rakesh Gupta, Chief Executive of Astra Netcom of India.

According to details, Astra Netcom operates a 1,200-seat call centre in India and its Chairman Rakesh Gupta was instrumental in promoting the Indian initiative in call centres in Europe and North America.

Because of newly announced Indian tax measures for call centres, high employee turnover and escalating operating costs, etc, Gupta is now focusing on Pakistan where he is exploring opportunities to set up a 1,000-seat call centre together with local partners.

Not only that, he is also actively considering routing substantial call centre business to Pakistan, primarily because of the opportunities available here like lower operating costs and availability of required infrastructure.

U.S. Firms Pick Up Pakistan's Call for Outsource Work

• American companies are finding a low-cost pool of educated English speakers that rivals neighboring India.

By Evelyn Iritani, Times Staff Writer

LAHORE, Pakistan — Pakistan would be hard-pressed to make anyone's list of best places to do business.

It's poor and saddled with a history of political instability and corruption. The U.S. government has warned Americans to stay away because of possible terrorist attacks. Blackouts are common in big cities.

But John Armbruster is betting that Pakistan's attributes — including a large, low-cost pool of English speakers — point to a brighter future.

He's aiming to help the country carve out a piece of the lucrative outsourcing business dominated by its neighbor and longtime rival, India.

For complete story:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pakecon23jan23,0,6730684.story

NBA Computers requested to Participate in International Conference on "Call Center Investment Opportunities"

NBA Computers has been requested to Participate in International Conference on "Call Center Investment Opportunities". NBA Computers has accepted the invitation as its for the overall good for the BPO industry and for Pakistan.

Eveready Communications (Pvt) Limited with the endorsement and support of Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunications (MOITT), Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), Board of Investment (BOl) and Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA) is taking a step forward by holding a two day International Conference on "Call Center Investment Opportunities" on Saturday & Sunday dated January 29 & 30, 2005 at Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Karachi. This event is first ever of its type in Pakistan concerning the $50 billion industry, growing with a pace of 30% per annum, closely integrated with the growth of $700 billion e-commerce industry worldwide.

For More Details: www.callcenter.net.pk

Pakistan Now a Hot Spot for IT Outsourcing

By Anthony Mitchell
E-Commerce Times
11/02/04 5:00 AM PT

The biggest boost to Pakistan's efforts to break into the global IT marketplace came on September 28, when India's finance ministry announced an income tax of more than 36 percent on foreign firms with software, R&D and customer service operations in India. This tax proposal had been in the works since the beginning of the year and is expected to prompt U.S. firms to follow GE's lead in selling off assets in India.

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