KUALA LUMPUR, 3 JUNE 2009 – More multinational companies are expected to move to Malaysia. Government agency MDeC said it will leverage on the consulting firm A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index (GSLI), which placed Malaysia as the third most preferred location for global services.
Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) chief executive officer, Dato’ Badlisham Ghazali said Malaysia is placed after India and China as attractive destinations for more multinational companies, according to the GSLI, which analyses and ranks the top 50 countries worldwide for locating outsourcing activities, including IT services and support, contact centres and back-office support. It will further strengthen MSC Malaysia’s position as a global ICT player and a growing regional ICT hub.
Badlisham said the availability of skilled workers, competitive cost and an ideal business environment have always been attractive ingredients for companies to choose Malaysia for their shared services and outsourcing as well as offshoring activities.
“MSC Malaysia offers the ‘Best of All Worlds’ for businesses, local and international, to grow and flourish,” said Badlisham. “In driving this, MDeC serves as a champion, facilitator and partner in working with companies seeking to set up their operations in MSC Malaysia.”
A.T. Kearney is a global management consulting firm, established in 1926, and located in 36 countries.
Outsourcing biggest contributor to MSC Malaysia revenue
Badlisham said the outsourcing industry was also the biggest contributor to MSC Malaysia’s revenue accounting for US$1.53 billion (RM5.34 billion) or 31 per cent of total MSC Malaysia revenue in 2007.
“Currently, there are 163 operational SSO [shared service and outsourcing] companies out of 179, which were awarded the MSC Malaysia Status and there are 87 active multinational companies operating in Malaysia, mostly in the SSO industry, software and e-solutions as well as creative multimedia,” he said. “Many multinational companies continuously refer to our workforce’s versatility and adaptability in terms of culture and language as being among the key reasons they invest here.”
“For most investors, setting up new operations requires quick adaptability with the particular location,” said Badlisham. “In Malaysia, these companies are already one step ahead thanks to our readily available pool of skilled workers who are also multilingual.”
A.T. Kearney Southeast Asia managing director, Joon Ooi, said that next to India and China, Malaysia is one of the regular outliners in financial attractiveness that have better scores in the areas of people skills and availability, and business environment.
“While cost remains a major factor in decisions about where to outsource for most investors, the quality of the labour pool is gaining importance,” said Ooi. “With this in mind, the governments around the world are investing in the human capital demanded by the offshoring industry.”
