http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1477963.cms

Now, Pakistan woos desi BPO veterans
AMANPREET SINGH

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 05, 2006 12:08:55 AM]

NEW DELHI: India is again going to teach Pakistan a thing or two. Only this time it’s going to be about the art of speaking.

In a move which will fuel Pakistan’s ITeS growth, Indian BPO veterans are being wooed aggressively by two of the largest Pakistan-based companies — the Shaheen group and Crescent group — to enable them to set up call centres in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

Apart from good offers, visa-related issues are also being relaxed moderately, to attract talent into Pakistan.

They are even selling Karachi as a modern city much like Mumbai. The reason being, that there are problems that besiege the $50-m nascent Pakistan call centre industry, the biggest stumbling block being lack of trained manpower.

There are already 18-20 Indian nationals working in two newly-established call centres of the two Pakistani industrial groups. People have been hired from call centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore to help in training, migration and integration.

Astra Netcom India is working with these two Pakistan-based companies by putting a build operate transfer (BOT) team in place in Pakistan.

Elaborating on its role in Pakistan, Rakesh Gupta, chairman, Astra Netcom India, said, middle and senior management people in training, operations, HR and IT helpdesk have gone to Pakistan. Gupta, a BPO veteran, had earlier helped set up a call centre in Kathmandu as well.

Work in Pakistan is on in full swing, with Shaheen group’s call centre called Ensign, starting operations in March ’06 with 200 people and Crescent group’s Crescent Standard Telecom, starting off with 50 people — both in Karachi.

Gupta’s team will stay in Pakistan till operations stabilise, but the lack of a bilateral agreement between the two countries means that Indians working in Pakistan on a business visa have to travel to and fro every month. “Getting a work permit in Pakistan is hard for Indians,” says Adnan Hamid, marketing head of Pakistan software export board (PSEB).

Indians have to wait for 6-8 weeks for a Pakistan visa and are allowed entry into a specified city. Besides, they have to report to the police when they enter or exit the country. While improving relations means a multiple entry visa and no police visits, it means that Indians can work there for only 3-6 months.

It is extremely difficult to get Indians to go to Pakistan, so the compensation package is extremely attractive. The middle management is being offered a salary of Rs 10 lakh per annum with an apartment and car thrown in as perks.

The job offer is, however, a stop gap arrangement with the high salary as a “money in the bank inducement.” Meanwhile, the Pakistan government is going all out to attract investment in the ITeS sector.

With the Pakistan BPO industry growing at 45per cent, there are 123 international and domestic call centres, with 30 more in the pipeline.

There is huge euphoria around call centres in Pakistan, with the government announcing a couple of IT parks, improvement in infrastructure, 16-years tax holiday for call centres and 5per cent import duty on computers.

While there are only telemarketing and sales-based processes in Pakistan currently, PSEB is talking of moving up the value chain. “The skill sets in both the countries are similar and it will be great to create engagements with Pakistan,” says Kiran Karnik, president Nasscom.

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"