Management consulting firm A.T. Kearney presented the new edition of the Global Services Location Index, which ranks countries with an active outsourcing business profile. The index reports based to three major categories - financial attractiveness, people skills and availability, and business environment. In the new edition of the ranking Bulgaria is in 12th place in the world. Analysts from A.T. Kearney find Bulgaria as an extremely competitive country in terms of location costs, situated in the European Union. For many years the country is destination for business and IT processes transfer at a close distance (nearshoring) and country that deepens its skills and experience in the industry.
In the new edition of the Global Services Location Index, experts pay attention to the growing role of technological progress on how the outsourcing industry works. "Nowadays, it is not important only the workforce location but also who and how is executing the work. The automation will be determining factor for the economy of services in the coming years", commented analysts at A.T. Kearney.
The development of the outsourcing industry in Bulgaria supports the development of the other economy sectors. In the past two years, more companies opened offices in regional cities, thus the demand for quality office space outside Sofia is increasing. Following the trend associated with the entry of major companies in the sector, Galaxy Investment Group has started the construction of the most modern office project in Plovdiv - Office Park Plovdiv. The project meets the specific requirements of companies in the high-tech sector. There is a great interest towards Office Park Plovdiv; the building is already 40% leased seven months before its completion.
The outsourcing industry is among the most rapidly growing sectors of the Bulgarian economy in the recent years. The software industry has formed 1.74% of Bulgarian GDP and for the past 10 years the revenues from IT companies grew by 600%. The information and communication technology sector and the outsourcing and business services are among the key drivers for the creation of new job openings in the country. Bulgaria is an attractive destination with highly qualified specialists, language knowledge, good conditions for business development, and EU membership. The country was recognized as the Offshoring Destination of the year 2015 during the European Outsourcing Awards (European Outsourcing Awards 2015), organized by the National Outsourcing Association.