The GCC consulting market is expected to be the fastest growing in the world this year, according to a recent report.

The findings published in a report from Source Information Services, a leading information provider about the management consulting market, said despite a shortage of local talent, the GCC consulting market grew by 20 per cent to $1.9 billion last year.

It also pointed out that the colossal US market (worth $39 billion in 2012) is expected to be the fastest growing western consulting market.

The report ranked each market for overall attractiveness against three factors - its growth potential in 2014, how easy it is to attract and retain talent, and the prices that consulting firms can command.

The GCC market was followed by those in Eastern Europe and Russia, China, US, Brazil and Africa.

Edward Haigh, director of Source and an author of the report, said: “The GCC is a market in which clients everywhere are trying to do a lot, very quickly, with very few people, and those are conditions in which consulting markets thrive.

“A consulting firm's ability to implement matters more than anything else in the GCC right now, but the ability to fit in with clients culturally when doing so - by having local talent - is both a critical determinant of success and the one, giant stumbling block which stands in the way of even greater growth in the region.”

The report said that the US market may have its economic concerns, but many of the other fundamentals that drive growth in consulting are in place - mature buyers, lots of headquarters, relative political stability and decent levels of inward investment. - TradeArabia News Service