Outsource to Europe event, Stockholm, Sweden

Earlier many western companies looked to India and Far East for getting their IT-jobs done at affordable prices. Now you don’t have to look as far as that. Instead look to the “near East”, Southeast Europe to be more precise.

The evolution of IT companies this corner of Europe has been going on at a tremendous speed lately, many of them now offering highly advanced IT and media experts at prices that clearly can compete with those in the Far East and are way below what is standard in Western Europe. All within 2-3 hours flight from Scandinavia in the same time zone and with a European mindset.

“Outsource to Europe” event was organized by South Eastern European Business Agency (SEEBA) in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce Sweden-Southeast Europe. The event took place on November 21, 2013, in Stockholm, Sweden. The event aimed at facilitating the dialogue between the South East European and Swedish companies in order to establish partnerships, develop collaborations, identifying potential business partners, buyers, distributors and suppliers in this market.

The IT/Media companies from SEE – Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova – had the possibility to meet up with Nordic potential customers and to present success cases and the advantages of outsourcing in SEE.

More than 90 persons representing companies from SEE countries and Sweden, but also representatives of different embassies and business organizations attended the event.

Moldova was represented at the event by Mr. Andrian Gavrilita, Team leader of the investment attraction team at Government of Republic of Moldova, Mr. Andrei Sedelkov, IT independent consultant and Ms. Viorica Bordei, Education Project Manager, Moldovan Association of Private ICT Companies. The Moldovan Team presented the business prospects, opportunities and advantages of outsourcing IT services to Moldova.

The Moldovan presentation made a special emphasis on the following strengths:

Experienced companies offering services in key market segments. Currently most clients doing business with Moldovan ICT companies are benefiting from full cycle services in the following areas: Finance, banking, billing, and accounting; QA and testing; Business process outsourcing.
Successful partnerships with Moldovan ICT companies can be developed on the basis of their geographic proximity and cultural affinity and compatibility with Europe. The European companies can add value by working with trustworthy and reliable business partners. Moldovan IT firms offer quality services, on-time delivery, and a chance to do business in your own language. Many IT companies hold international certifications, such as ISO 9001, ISO 270001, and IT Mark (aligning companies to CMMI standards). A growing number are becoming Microsoft, Oracle, and Cisco certified partners, which makes them up to date with current technologies.
Competitive IT labour force. Moldova has a large and growing pool of well educated, highly skilled, multilingual professionals. Most young people speak Romanian and Russian, English and French; Italian, German, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Turkish are also widely spoken. The number of graduates from local colleges and universities in ICT-related disciplines is growing quickly, doubling during the past years. Creative thinking and flexible mindsets ensure that services meet and exceed clients’ expectations. Although wages are rising they remain lower than those in the rest of Eastern Europe.