Pakistan Seeks Tech Role

Pakistan, which has been affected by Islamic extremist violence and civil unrest against the current government, is trying hard to compete for a share of the offshore outsourcing business.

The country''s highly skilled, English speaking people provide a key advantage, said Yusuf Hussain, managing director of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), a government agency set up to promote the IT, BPO (business process outsourcing) and call center industries in Pakistan. Some multinational companies have centers in Pakistan, while others are outsourcing work to IT and services companies in the region, he added.

Salaries in Pakistan are lower by 30 percent than in neighboring India, said Ashraf Kapadia, president of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA), an association of software, call center and BPO companies in Pakistan.

On the downside, the country has an image problem, according to Kapadia. There is this perception abroad that Pakistan is politically unstable, he said.

However, these problems have not scared away customers, Kapadia said. His software and BPO company, Systems Limited, has a number of large multinational customers, including Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., which continue to do business with his company, despite the country''s unrest, he said.