Pakistan is rapidly emerging as a key outsourcing destinations in the globe. The country is heralded for its software development activities, and other IT related services such as call center operations and medical transcription. This has in return attracted the attention of fortune 500 companies including Cisco, Microsoft, and IBM who are now leveraging Outsourcing to Pakistan as a key corporate strategy.
Government Support
Pakistanis government has significantly invested in the outsourcing sector spending nearly $70 million in promoting software development activities. In relation to this, Pakistan’s software development board has laid out an elaborate initiative to construct IT parks with plinth area measuring 750,000 square feet. This particular park is going to be leased to IT companies at a subsidized rate. The IT park will house companies that are keen on the outsourcing business and among the benefits these companies will receive are broadband access and tax holidays among other benefits from the government.
The country’s population is approximately 187 million people with majority of them being Muslims at 95%. English is used in contracts and official businesses even in government offices. The country’s GDP is $US 202 billion and has a Purchasing Power Parity of $ US 2,851. The country boasts of a workforce of approximately 56 million. They have a limited number of national holidays and this means that there is greater staff availability for outsourcing companies.
The country has an elaborate road network with approximately 260,000 km of paved roads. There are also 35 airports, which facilitates movements of people. The Pakistanis government has a plan to offer low cost PCs and broadband Internet connection to public and private schools. There are also plans to interconnect public access points via Internet to facilitate training programs. In addition, the country is pursuing aggressive IT polices that are geared towards boosting Pakistanis position as a preferred outsourcing destination. This promotes economic modernization and creating an exportable software industry. Pakistanis government has also liberalized the telecommunications industry. This is very important for any company that is thinking of Outsourcing to Pakistan because proper communication forms the bedrock of any outsourcing business.
Education
The country has significantly invested in education resources. There is a constitutional clause that mandates the country to provide free and compulsory primary education to the citizens. Pakistan boasts of 135 universities, of which 61 of the institutions are private, and the remaining are public. The country boasts of numerous technical and vocational institutions, which trains students in various disciplines related to outsourcing business such as animation rendering, software development, transcription, and data entry among others.
Pakistan Cost of Labor
Pakistan has very low costs of salaries paid to workers. To begin with, average annual pay of IT experts in Pakistan is 30% lower than what their Indian counterparts earn. For instance, Pakistan’s Software specialists with 1-4 years of experience earn approximately 11% of what their colleagues who are based in the US earn. This averages around $6,500.00. Senior systems developers earn approximately 13% of what their colleagues earn with pay approximating USD $12,500 annually. These figures are economic friendly and they will rarely pass unnoticed by any company that wants co cut cost.
