Outsourcing in Bulgaria

There is one thing in which Bulgaria is certainly ahead of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. This is outsourcing. So for these countries were among the first cross-border destinations of Western European companies. Now this has changed and Bulgaria is much more ahead in the global rating (drawn up by ATKearney) of the economies suitable for outsourcing in 2009. Bulgaria is in the 13th place while the Czech Republic is in the 32nd, Poland is in the 38th, Slovakia is in the 40th. This change is the result of the fast increase of costs in Central European Countries. The reason for this is the increase of salaries and increase in the value of some foreign currencies compared to the dollar. The new participants in top ten which are ahead of Bulgaria are not its direct competitors simply because they are located in other regions. Rumania, which is 19th, is relatively ahead but after Bulgaria. So our country is the European star for outsourcing. It is a very significant fact that in spite of the crisis it is still in a very good position among investors who are thinking about where to export their production. At the same time the rest of the region, with the exception of Romania, is falling behind in the rating. Bulgaria preserves its good position in price leadership by reason of the low price of labour but it loses in the column „business environment” in comparison with 2008г. But its position in general is still very stable. Bulgaria gives a good example in the creation of specific skills (characteristic about a certain niche). E.g., when Outsource Partners International created an outsourcing center of business processes in the global forwarding industry it chose the Bulgarian port Varna where it found the necessary specialists.

The recommendations are for Bulgaria to concentrate on services with added value and to use the advantage of the price of labour. Thus it can accentuate on the development of activities for Western Europe mainly. Attracting companies which would help it further develop its export will be the greatest challenge infront of the country in the next years.

The quotations are from the Manager magazine.