India-based Tech Mahindra yesterday announced plans to expand its Bahrain office.

Tech Mahindra opened its regional office in the kingdom in March last year and has now decided to place it at the centre of its GCC-wide expansion plans.

It will be hiring additional consultants to meet the IT services and solutions requirements of GCC-based companies.

Tech Mahindra is a global systems integrator and business transformation consulting firm focused on the burgeoning telecommunications industry.

With wholly-owned subsidiaries in the US, Europe, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, the $1 billion Tech Mahindra's service offerings include business process outsourcing, infrastructure management services and value-added services.

'Bahrain has played a pioneering role in the development of the information technology and telecommunications industry in the Gulf,' Economic Development Board chief executive Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa said.

'It is a matter of pride that global IT firms like Tech Mahindra have chosen to place their trust and confidence in the kingdom's robust and business-friendly environment.

'Furthermore, the country offers geographical and strategic advantages for any company that actively seeks to broaden its market reach to cover the GCC and the Middle East,' he said.

'Bahrain provides one of the most energetic environments for software development firms like Tech Mahindra,' Tech Mahindra president, international operations, C P Gurnani said.

'We are encouraged by the sound operating environment that Bahrain provides for companies, and we are positive that Bahrain will play a central role in our growth plans for the Middle East,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service