The salaries of IT professionals in Pakistan are approximately 30% lower than those in India, while telecommunication costs are also lower as compared to any other offshore locations, which make Pakistan an attractive outsourcing destination.

GARTNER REPORT 2008*

‘Analysis of Pakistan as an Offshore Service Location’

Pakistan ranked as the top outsourcing destination in terms of growth, value for money and customer feedback along with the Philippines

• Pakistan experienced 328% growth in outsourcing business during 2007-8, second only to the Philippines
• Pakistan is well ahead of India and just behind the number 1 ranked United States in customer satisfaction

oDESK Report on Outsourcing Locations 2008

A.T. Kearney’s Global Service Location Index Ranking places Pakistan in the Top 20 in the world, improving 10 places since 2007

A.T. KEARNEY’S RANKING 2009

Pakistan facts:

Education in Pakistan is divided into five levels: primary (grades one through five); middle (grades six through eight); high (grades nine and ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate); intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary School Certificate); and university programmes leading to graduate and advanced degrees.

Pakistan also has a parallel secondary school education system in private schools, which is based upon the curriculum set and administered by the Cambridge International Examinations, in place of government exams. Some students choose to take the O level and A level exams through the British Council.

There are currently 730 technical & vocational institutions in Pakistan. The minimum qualifications to enter male vocational institutions, is the completion of grade 8. The programmes are generally two to three years in length. The minimum qualifications to enter female vocational institutions, is the completion of grade 5. All academic education institutions are the responsibility of the provincial governments. The federal government mostly assists in curriculum development, accreditation and some financing of research.

English medium education is to be extended, on a phased basis, to all schools across the country. Through various educational reforms, by the year 2015, the ministry of education expects to attain 100% enrolment levels amongst primary school aged children, and a literacy rate of 86% amongst people aged over 10.

Its great geographical location makes it a versatile outsourcing destination

It makes sense for Pakistan to follow in India's footsteps and try to boost its outsourcing business. The country, after all, shares India's British colonial history and has some 17 million English speakers. It has a huge community of émigrés with experience in technology. And like India, it has a culture that values education and hard work. Wages, meanwhile, stand at about the same level as in India, with call center workers earning about $12 per day and starting software engineers pulling in $5,000 or so annually.