The representatives of some of the biggest players in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry have launched operations in Bucharest in the last three years, turning Romania into a Southeast European leading light in this field.

Taking into consideration the fact that India continues to be the world's most attractive location for companies seeking to open service centres, does Romania stand any chance of becoming Europe's India in terms of outsourcing? This was the most important question that was requested to be answered by consultants, experts in this field and representatives of the authorities, who were attending the first BPO conference in Romania organised by ZIARUL FINANCIAR, in partnership with Genpact.

Economy and Finance Minister Varujan Vosganian, who attended the seminar, said that investments in outsourcing could reach 200-250 million euros by 2010.

However, Patrick Cogny, CEO of Genpact for Europe, says that it is quite difficult to relate any SE European country to the Indian model. "India has been the worldwide success story of outsourcing over the last few years. The outsourcing industry has existed in India for well over 10 years, which demonstrates outsourcing is an industry that redefines the way companies do business," Cogny specified. India is the location of choice for service providers, especially because of the low costs and the availability of language skills.

Whereas in India, BPO industry players operate on a market that turns out approximately 400,000 graduates a year and where experienced employees and managers are highly available, in SE Europe and implicitly in Romania, the workforce market is much more fragmented.

According to a survey conducted by the US consulting company A.T. Kearney that was revealed during the event, Romania's attractiveness, as far as BPO investors are concerned, has less