In Apr. ’08, IMF said expansion in Asia will be slower this year as the region is not likely to escape the impact of the U.S.-led global downturn, although the growth would likely remain high relative to other regions of the world. Actually, IMF has cut its forecast for growth in Asia this year, and now projects more moderate expansion of 6.2 percent — down by 1.75 percent from 2007. However, this view is certain to be contradictory.
The month saw as many as 18 new expansions (organic) across the globe, out of which 15 were in the Asian region. Although India, China and the Philippines have become the leading outsourcing nations for quite some time now, other Asian nations such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore are among the emerging destinations where service providers are starting to expand their reach.
In April, Luxoft, an IT-services firm, opened a new delivery center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The company is also planning to build the headcount up to 200 to 300 people by the end of 2009.
“The educational system in Vietnam is closer to the Russian one in its focus on Mathematics and a general cultural closeness between both countries due to their communist past,” informs Dmitry Loschinin, President and CEO, Luxoft. “Furthermore, Vietnamese people possess a strong work ethic, and the country also has the lowest attrition rate in the Asian region, which is presently between 5 percent and 9 percent. Though Vietnam with its French speaking contingent is seen as a particularly good fit for Luxoft small French operation, it is also seen as a springboard to winning outsourcing business with Japanese clustomers.”
The month also saw a couple of other expansions but surprisingly, again, not in any of the leading outsourcing hubs within the European region.
In the Americas, it were the State of Michigan and Dominican Republic, which got the opportunity of foreign investment as companies such as Wipro and GlobCom expand their operations in these countries respectively.
| Destination Radar |
| Country |
Provider(s) |
| India |
Infosys, Wipro,
Cambridge Solutions, Chrysler, TCS, Satyam
|
| China |
Cisco, Spanco BPO |
| The Philippines |
Headstrong, EXL Service, WNS, Accenture, Western Wats, NCO Group
|
| Others |
Luxoft (Vietnam), Spanco BPO (Malaysia, Singapore) |
| The U.S. |
Wipro |
Dominican
Republic |
GlobCom |
Source: Global Services
