The Leader - September/October 2008 - (Page 52) You th IN k th eY’r e h ot, B u t the Y’ re No t: to p -10 o v e rrate D I Nv e s tme Nt De s tI NatI o Ns Secondly, different cities are more attractive for different types of IT/KPO/ BPO or manufacturing investments. Each city has unique operating cost and conditions characteristics that make it particularly attractive to specific industries or sectors. the up-aND-comING INvestmeNt DestINatIoNs For IT/KPO/BPO, our top picks for the desirable investment destinations multinationals should have on their shortlist of locations to consider are listed in alphabetical order (see Figure 4): Belfast, UK; Bridgewater, Nova Scotia; Brno, Czech Republic; Cordoba, Argentina; Debrechen, Hungary; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Madera, California; Noida, India; Sofia, Bulgaria; and Xi’an, China. For manufacturing, our top picks are as follows (see Figure 5): Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Chengdu, China; Costanza, Romania; Dung Quat, Vietnam; Elmira, New York; Kosice, Slovakia; Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Porto Alegre, Brazil; Vung Tau, Vietnam; and Wuhan, China. cItY profIles To illustrate what exactly we look for in an up-and-coming emerging investment destination, below are brief profiles of three cities in each sector: IT/KPO/BPO Cordoba, Argentina, located 435 mi. (700 km.) northwest of Buenos Aires, has long been an industrial and educational center, but is now emerging as a hotspot for software development as well. The entire province of Cordoba, of which the homonymous city is the capital, has a software promotion law that grants investors in the industry a compelling combination of tax breaks, subsidies and provincial infrastructure spending; moreover, the local government has a reputation for actively pursuing investors and making Cordoba worth their while. Even without these incentives the city is an attractive one for investors: Cordoba boasts the highest proportion of college graduates in Latin America. Infrastructure is strong and growing stronger, too; the city is served by the nation’s third-largest airport, Ingeniero Ambrosio L.V. Taravella International, and is currently in the planning stages for a high-speed train connecting it to Rosario and ultimately Buenos Aires. Yet office rates (US$19.73/sq. m./month) remain approximately 52 percent of those in Buenos Aires (US$37.67/sq. m./ month), while wages for IT personnel are, on average, only 80 percent of those in the capital. Motorola, Electronic Data Systems and Intel already have a presence here, a testament to the city’s viability, but Cordoba is well positioned for further investment. Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital city, is the new kid on the block amongst Eastern European capitals presenting strong IT/KPO/BPO investment opportunities. With Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union confirmed on January 1, 2007, the country – and its capital in particular – are poised to receive further investment from multinationals. As a testament to the city’s viability, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Google, BMW and Hewlett Packard have already opened operations in Sofia – but there is still plenty of room to grow. F IG. 4 emer GING at t rac t I v e It/k po/B po D e s t I Nat I o Ns belfast, uk bridgewater, nova scotia brno, czech republic cordoba, argentina debrechen, hungary ho chi minh city, vietnam madera, california noida, india sofia, bulgaria xi’an, china The government has allotted €€6 billion (US$9.3 billion) to upgrading the country’s (mostly Sofia’s) infrastructure; €€110 million of these funds are currently being used to redevelop and expand the capital’s airport, while Sofia’s metro is growing from 8 stations with 6 mi. (10 km.) of track to 48 stations with 34 mi. (54 km.) of track – or enough to handle a million users each day. Moreover, when Bulgaria acceded to the EU, it lowered its corporate income tax to 10 percent, the same rate as Cyprus and the lowest in Europe. This favorable tax system is coupled with a highly competitive labor pool – turnover rates are relatively low at 10 percent per annum, wages rise at about the same rate, and its highly educated, bilingual labor force receives an average monthly income of €€300 to 470 (US$464 to 728) for contact agents and €€550 to 650 (US$851 to 1,006) for supervisors. 2 0 0 8 th e le aDe r 52 septemBer / octoBer
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.