A. T Kearney's Global Services Location Index places several MENA countries among top 25 locations in the global rankings -

Dubai March 2, 2011 - A.T. Kearney's Global Services Location Index (GSLI) demonstrates that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has emerged an ideal off-shoring location. In its most recent index edition the global management consulting firm indicates that the Middle East and North Africa has overtaken several Eastern European locations.

 "The Middle East and North Africa region have become increasingly attractive because of their proximity to Europe, competitive cost structure and vast talent pool," said Dan Starta, Managing Director, A.T. Kearney Middle East.

India, China and Malaysia continue to be the globally most attractive locations and once again, a combination of human resources and low cost have placed them in the top three spots respectively - positions they've occupied since the inaugural Global Services Location Index in 2003.  With its first-mover advantage and deep skill base, India still maintains the lion's share of the IT services market. It is the all-around standout, able to provide manpower for any type of offshoring activity. China provides competitively priced high-end analytics and engineering, while Malaysia attracts IT services offshoring.

The GLSI provides a benchmark for service location selection on a comparative scale internationally. Specifically it ranks countries for locating outsourcing activities, including IT services and support, contact centers and back-office support. 

"The index enables investor decision makers and countries within the region to evaluate key selection criteria for making offshoring service location decisions. Each country's score is composed of a weighted combination of relative scores on 39 measurements, which are grouped into three categories: financial attractiveness, people and skills availability and business environment," added Starta.

The UAE, second in the Middle East region, improved to 15th raking globally. This ranking proves the sustained propensity to attract regional service centers/head quarters of multinational corporations, with the UAE acting as a gateway to the GCC.

Within other ME countries, regional locations have made consistent progress, with scores analyzed and compiled prior to recent political uprisings. Egypt features 4th in the world and the leader in the Middle East, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE), moved from 29th to 15th position, Jordan (22nd) and Tunisia (23rd) remain in the top 25. However, as the index was developed before the political turmoil in Egypt and other MENA countries, it is yet to be seen how the unfolding of recent events will impact their ratings going forward.

 "While this year's Global Services Location index has highlighted the improved attractiveness of the MENA region for multinationals, the results also highlight that Middle East corporations may benefit from leveraging the opportunities presented by the most attractive off shoring destinations of India, China and Malaysia" concluded Starta.

-Ends-

About A.T. Kearney
A.T. Kearney (www.atkearney.com) is a global management consulting firm that uses strategic insight, tailored solutions and a collaborative working style to help clients achieve sustainable results. Since 1926, we have been trusted advisors on CEO-agenda issues to the world's leading corporations across all major industries. A.T. Kearney's offices are located in major business centers in 37 countries. From our fast growing Middle East offices in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai and Riyadh, A.T. Kearney actively contributes to the operational excellence and profitable growth of the private sector industries and services in the region as well as the agility of governments. For more information, visit www.atkearney.ae.

About the Study
The 50 countries included in this year's Global Services Location IndexTM were selected on the basis

of corporate input, current remote services activity and government initiatives to promote the sector.

They were evaluated against 39 measurements across three major categories: financial attractiveness,

people skills and availability, and business environment (see figure). The metrics used to evaluate location attractiveness were determined from responses to A.T. Kearney and other industry surveys, and knowledge obtained in client engagements over the past five years.The relative weights of each metric are based on their importance to the location decision, again derived from client experience and industry surveys. Because cost advantage is typically the primary driver behind location decisions, financial factors constitute 40 percent of the total weight in the Index. The two remaining categories--people skills and availability, and business environment-- each constitute 30 percent of the total weight.

Global Services Location Index 2011
(number in parenthesis indicates ranking in 2009 Index) 

  1. India (position in 2009 GSLI: 1)

  2. China (2)

  3. Malaysia (3)

  4. Egypt (6 )

  5. Indonesia(5)

  6. Mexico (11)

  7. Thailand (4)

  8. Vietnam (10)

  9. Philippines (7)

  10. Chile (8)

  11. Estonia (18)

  12. Brazil (12)

  13. Latvia (22)

  14. Lithuania (21)

  15. United Arab Emirates (29)

  16. United Kingdom (31)

  17. Bulgaria (13)

  18. United States (14)

  19. Costa Rica (23)

  20. Russia (33)

  21. Sri Lanka (16)

  22. Jordan (9)

  23. Tunisia (17))

  24. Poland (38)

  25. Romania (19)

  26. Germany (34)

  27. Ghana (15)

  28. Pakistan (20)

  29. Senegal (26)

  30. Argentina( 27)

  31. Hungary (37)

  32. Singapore (35)

  33. Jamaica (24)

  34. Panama (43)

  35. Czech Republic (32)

  36. Mauritius (25)

  37. Morocco (30)

  38. Ukraine (42)

  39. Canada (28)

  40. Slovakia (40)

  41. Uruguay (36)

  42. Spain (45)

  43. Columbia (not on 2009 list)

  44. France (41)

  45. South Africa (39)

  46. Australia (47)

  47. Israel (49)

  48. Turkey (44)

  49. Ireland (48)

  50.  Portugal (50)

*Based on lower-cost locations in each country: San Antonio (U.S.), Belfast (UK), Leipzig (Germany) and Marseilles (France). 9 The rankings were made before the recent political unrest in Egypt and Tunisia began. As a result, the political uncertainty and country risk associated with both countries have dramatically increased. The situations need to be monitored closely to gauge whether the long-term risk profiles will change.

© Press Release 2011