Pakistan BPO delegation denied Visas
By Mahesh PV

A 40 member strong delegation from Pakistan, under the aegis of ACCO (Pakistan Call Center Association), was denied VISAs by the Indian Embassy. In fact they had earlier been granted the VISAs but were cancelled after the recent Indian Embassy bombing in Afghanistan some time back. The move is seen as diplomatic retaliation by many. The event organizers at CCDCI, Mumbai (19-20 Sept 08) were disappointed.

They organizers of CCDCI told BPO News that the delegation was very disappointed as well.

The project Manager for this event, Jeevan Kumar said:  “The delegation had many meetings planned with key BPO executives and other organizations and were looking forward to co-operation”. We could not get any comments from the Pakistani Delegation or from ACCO. The organizers politely refused to name companies or people who were denied entry into India.

But we were able to extract information that Sybrid Pvt Ltd of Pakistan (and part of the strong Lawson Group) is already in detailed discussions with Indian companies to invest and co-operate in setting up a large BPO presence in India. According to reliable sources who prefer anonymity, Mr. Anwar Kazi, CEO, Sybrid has been talking to a number of Indian BPO companies for a Joint Venture (or other long term arrangements) which would give them a foothold in the business. Sybrid currently bills around $3 million from Dubai and Pakistan offices.

(By arrangement with BPO News)