India seeks Germany support

A FICCI business delegation to Germany being led by India's commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma will seek support from a key member of the European Union (EU) over the campaign against outsourcing, particularly in the US, writes Deccan Herald.

"We will explain to them, like we did it in the case of the US, that outsourcing is good for their economy. It is a two-way street," says FICCI president Rajan Bharti Mittal. The delegation comprising senior industry leaders is in Germany from 6 to 8 October.

Mittal, who will be part of the delegation to Dusseldorf, Dresden, Berlin and Frankfurt, says "thankfully" a bill against outsourcing has been defeated in the US Senate. Germany, being the largest member of the 27-member EU bloc, would be briefed about the advantages of the outsourcing for the west.

Verizon Communications has chosen Johnson Controls as a major real estate services provider, says My Smart Trend.

Johnson Controls will provide integrated facility management, project management and energy implementation, among other things, at more than 7 000 of Verizon's US properties.

Tanya Penny, vice-president of real estate, Verizon Communications, says: "The Verizon Real Estate organisation is transforming its operations to maximise the value it delivers to Verizon's business groups and our employees so they can better serve our customers.

Worldwide demand for outsourcing is tilting towards Egypt as Europe now spends more on outsourcing than North America, reports The Daily News Egypt.

According to Denise D'Elia, a Vodafone representative, outsourcing as an industry was valued at $13 billion last year. Egypt has the third-largest talent pool in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, and she says this is largely due to the country's rich pool of young talent - 50% of the population is under 25.

Although this is a positive development, for Egypt to play a major outsourcing role worldwide, it needs to build its capacity in several areas, D'Elia says.