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As
U.S. firms attempt to follow the market into an increasingly
saturated India, Indian firms are looking to lower their
costs by coming to Pakistan, which is 30 percent cheaper
than India for IT work and has an underutilized talent
pool of English speakers and computer science graduates.
Two
motorcycles collide, Ben Hur style, spilling four lads
out across the roadway, slick with gray water. They pick
themselves up, brush off their clothes, pull fenders and
other peripherals back into place, then speed away. Not
one harsh word is exchanged. Nor is there a single helmet
among the lot of them.
Welcome
to the old Saddar market area of Karachi, Pakistan, where
computers, mobile devices, and other electronics are sold.
Business is booming here, with goods flying out of the
stores like birds freed from a cage.
There is
a hunt going on. Nearby in the same old downtown area on
the following night, I spot two men attempting to climb
over an iron fence. They are the first Westerners that
I've seen outside a hotel in more than two weeks here.
They are attempting to cross a busy street and have become
stranded by heavy traffic. I wonder if they will starve.
Leading
the Market
The hunt
I'm on is to discover markets for information technology
in Pakistan and to find software and call center firms
that will perform well if provided with outsourcing contracts
from U.S. clients.
As U.S.
firms attempt to follow the market into an increasingly
saturated India, Indian firms are looking to lower their
costs by coming to Pakistan, which is 30 percent cheaper
than India for IT work and has an underutilized talent
pool of English speakers and computer science graduates.
These Indian
firms are onto something. Why follow the market when you
can lead it?
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