Egypt named top outsourcing destination as industry expands

Egypt named top outsourcing destination as industry expands

Last week in Brussels, Egypt was named “Offshoring Destination of the Year” by the European Outsourcing Association (EOA), beating rivals like the Philippines, Colombia and Sri Lanka as well as regional competitors such as Morocco and Jordan.

Criteria for the award included cost competitiveness and a strong talent pool, specifically relating to language skills.

“The country's credibility is [growing] amongst European companies and has put its mark on the map of favored global services locations,” Tarek Kamel, minister of Communications and Information Technology, said in a statement to Daily News Egypt.

Globally, the outsourcing industry is worth around $30 billion, said Ahmed Reda, media communications manager at Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). Egypt’s piece of the pie is $1.1 billion a year, and with a goal of doubling that by 2013.

The industry could generate $10 billion a year for Egypt by 2020, an official told Reuters.