Bahrain will become a regional hub for the outsourcing sector, said an expert, adding that GCC countries have a clear advantage for business process outsourcing industry, thanks to an increase in demand for Khaleeji Arabic dialect among clients.

"The reason it is expanding is that Khaleeji Arabic is very unique. To serve countries in this part of the world you need the particular accent which other countries such as India cannot offer," business process outsourcing firm Silah Gulf chief executive Joe Tawfik told our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

Other languages spoken in the kingdom such as Hindi and Urdu are also considered.

"We're trying to create a hub which will be multilingual," he said.

The Bahrain-based company has announced the launch of a specialist manpower outsourcing service called 'Silah Talent'.

"It is customised for each country in the region. In Bahrain, it is for Bahrainis," he said.

"We're hiring locals. Silah Talent would expect to recruit a minimum of 100 people in the next two months," he added.

The Bahraini firm also aims at expanding into other GCC markets.

"We're recruiting all over the GCC though we're a 100 per cent Bahraini company," he said. "We're looking at expanding into Kuwait and other markets."

The country's maturing knowledge-based industry needs to develop and wean itself away from dependence on oil, he said.

The latest Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report states that the GCC has a far more positive outlook for growth of call centres than the rest of the world due to the relative immaturity of the region.

The main challenge for the region is availability of staff, according to the report. The Bahraini firm, however, taps into student talent to add to their numbers. "We're giving graduates their stepping stone into the knowledge-based industry," he said.

"We have currently government-based clients, telecommunication clients and we're about to engage with some banking clients as well," he added. – TradeArabia News Service