The usual locations for outsourcing are China, India, Russian and a number of other places. While they may be great destinations but the overcrowding is diminishing its value particularly for those companies that don’t have millions of dollars budget. Such companies might end up working with lower tier companies which might be inadequate not only in the skills but also have diminished abilities for hiring talented and skilled people. Due to such challenges on the way, a number of several other alternate locations are now emerging and turning into success stories. An example of such location in Pakistan. It is the sixth most populous country in the world with 187 million people. This country might be facing lots of problems like terrorism or corruption, but there is a completely different side of Pakistan as well. It is blessed with a number of great resources. It is still a fertile land of talented, hardworking and determined professionals. Discover what makes your business versatile!

The government and companies are now focusing on providing better facilities and services to its people. Companies, local or international, are now outsourcing its business to Pakistan including marketing and human resource management. For example, Unilever is now outsourcing most of its products in Pakistan. It is now becoming a good place for outsourcing but why and how? These questions often arise in the people’s mind. Several reasons prove why outsourcing to Pakistan is one of the best options. Some of them are described below:

Availability Of Talented Workforce :

Pakistan like any other country has very strong work ethics and has high productivity. It is still developing with every new day. The rate of unemployment is high in Pakistan which means that you can have easy access to jobless graduates. They want to earn money and are ready to work at even low rates. They are often hardworking and skilled professionals so it will be easy to get high-quality work from them. It revealed that outsourcing services to Pakistan would bring not only more profit but also quality work.

Business Friendly Attitude :

Most Pakistani employees have a professional attitude towards their business. Many outsourcing companies in Pakistan are praised for their high-quality work. The professionalism and integrity of the employees are very well appreciated by the Westerners having business experiences elsewhere in the region.

Ease Of Doing Business :

Pakistan is a business-friendly country as it has tax incentives for certain business services. Moreover, the business law in Pakistan is also pretty favorable for the business owners. The ease of running a business is much higher in Pakistan as compare to China and India. According to World Bank, the ease of doing business index in Pakistan is ranked 60th whereas India is ranked 116th. Similarly, the ease of starting a new business in Pakistan is ranked 38th which is also much higher than the India which is ranked 90th. This factor makes Pakistan a good option for offshore, IT and software outsourcing. There is no social angered and no political boundaries for the business owner. Pakistan also has favorable and supportive policies as foreign investors are given 100% ownership of equity in the IT companies along with 100% repatriation of earnings and 33% annual depreciation of equipment.

No Language Barrier :

Pakistan is facing no such major problem as language barrier as the official language already English. Pakistanis often speak several languages, and these language skills give Pakistan a great advantage for outsourcing as compared to other Asian countries. The neutralization of accent for non-native English speakers is pretty much easier in Pakistan as compared to India.It had more than 110,000 highly experienced and trained English speaking professionals. Out of these professionals, about 24,000 are engaged in software export.

Cheap Labor :

Companies which provide outsourcing services prefer to work for less money in this way let them avoid providing special benefits to its workers. The literacy rate in Pakistan is much higher as a great number of CSR’s in call centers have college degrees, but still, the poverty rate in the country is not in control. People are ready to work even on low rates due to its economic crisis, and therefore Pakistan can be a good choice for outsourcing on cheaper wages.

Infrastructure :

One of the major reasons for outsourcing to Pakistan is its excellent and stable infrastructure.  Roads are extremely smooth and much better as compared to the other countries like Philippines and India. Government and companies are making continuous efforts to upgrade the hardware in Pakistan in order to provide better services. Faster internet services with well-settled fiber optics and availability of 3G and 4G connection keep people online,throughout the day. Due to this,factor, you can easily make financial transactions.  This 3G and 4G mobile auction have already played a role in boosting broadband mobile internet penetration. It has also resulted in increased usage of smartphones which ultimately generated increased demand for digital applications and services. It has also resulted in the digitization of all sectors of government. The computer literacy rate in Pakistan is pretty high. Moreover, it has reliable telecommunication, transport and energy networks.

Taxes :

Taxes are one of the main employee expenses in all the types of outsourcing systems. They might change drastically across several countries. The cooperate tax rate in Pakistan is about 35 percent which is much high than other countries like China and Egypt having a corporate tax rate of about 25% and 20% respectively. The tax rate of India is about 34% which is also lower than that of Pakistan.

Resources And Skills :

The workforce in Pakistan is nearly 56 million. Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore are considered the business hub in Pakistan. Pakistan provides fewer holidays as compared to numerous other countries which mean that greater staff is available for companies. Its talent pool is easily available. Pakistan’s turnover rate is below 20 percent which is much lower than that of India which is about 100 percent.

Other Reasons :

Some other factors that make Pakistan a favorable location for outsourcing are below:

• Public and private institutions and universities in Pakistan have aninternational standard curriculum. In 2008, it was reported that Pakistan has 110 universities which graduate about 20,000 professional each year. It revealed the competency of the Pakistani graduates.
• According to Global Education Digest (2009), the literacy rate of adults in Pakistan is about 54 percent which ultimately places Pakistan at the bottom of the top 25 global sourcing nations. However, Pakistani government is taking step to improve its educational systems in order to increase it literacy rate
• Pakistan has a stable and prosperous economy which is now attracting a great number of foreign investments. It provides an equal opportunity not only to local but also to foreign investors.
• The GDP growth in Pakistan is the second fastest.
• Highly trained professionals and executives in the IT companies in the country have often had western experiences and received degrees from universities of the United States of America.
• Regarding IP laws, Pakistan has been ranked much higher as compared to several other countries.