Keywords: shared services, finance shared services, Invest Lithuania, SSC,

Eastern Europe named among the most attractive destinations for shared services

Susie West | News | 1 May 2012

• Print
•        

Countries in Eastern Europe have been cited as some of the most attractive destinations in which to establish a shared services centre and business process outsourcing investments.

Experts from the global shared services industry agreed that businesses looking to relocate their operations find countries in Central and Eastern Europe to be more competitive than other regions.

Members of the industry met at a reception in London's Lithuanian Embassy last week, hosted by Invest Lithuania, in an effort to raise the profile of the country as a suitable host for shared services operations.

Cynthia Pasky, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Staffing Solutions, said at the event that the key criteria for relocating operations are "people, price and proximity".

Rising costs of labour, retention, quality and the distance to the client - both culturally and physically - have also become factors that challenge Asia's traditional advantages for relocating service centres there, Ms Pasky remarked.

Further offering support to Lithuania as a viable destination for shared services were Simon Butt, the former British Ambassador to Lithuania, and the Lithuanian Ambassador to the UK, Dr Oskaras Jusys. They agreed that the country's proximity to Western and Northern Europe, as well as the nation's highly skilled and multilingual employees, make it a strong competitor to Asia.

Earlier this month, Denmark-based manufacturing company Nielsen & Nielsen set up its service centre in Kaunas, Lithuania.

The head of the new facility Arturas Pankevicius told the Baltic Course: "As we established the service centre, we analysed the country's investment environment, labour market and several other criteria. We are confident that we can organise a strong team of highly qualified employees."

Invest Lithuania welcomed the inclusion of a manufacturing company after observing that other companies to have set up shared services centres in the country come from the financial services sector, including Barclays, Western Union and SEB.