SBS announces joint venture with Dubai-ETA Group

Chennai, Sep 6 (UNI) Sundaram Business Services (SBS), the BPO arm of Sundaram Finance Ltd, today announced the formation of a Joint Venture with the Dubai-headquartered business conglomerate ETA Group to hire accounting professionals as well as people with Arabic skills.

Christened Gulf Outsourcing Services Private Ltd, the 40:60 (SBS: ETA) JV will target, among others, the BPO markets in UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, with focus on the BFSI vertical.

The JV company would open a full fledged office in Dubai shortly.

The JV envisages to set up a BPO facility at the Dubai Outsourcing Zone. This footprint will allow the new JV to provide their clients with a full suite of processing options, including on shore and off-shore capabilities.

Talking to reporters here Executive Director and Head-SBS P S Raghavan said here the ETA Group brings deep knowledge of the Gulf market and would give us the ability to offer clients on-site, on-shore as well as off-shore processing capabilities.

''We believe the combined entity will help us make inroads into the huge untapped potential for outsourcing in the middle East.

Both our groups have a long history of successful partnerships and joint ventures and we look forward to working closely with ETA to make this a successful BPO partnership in the Gulf", Mr Raghavan said.

ETA Group, Director (Finance) Arif Rehman said, "while the Gulf is now positioning itself as a major outsourcing destination, we believe that companies in the Gulf can themselves benefit greatly from outsourcing".

''Many Gulf companies face serious constraints in hiring the right talent to sustain their rapid growth and maintain high quality services to their clients. With the backing of the Sundaram Group's deep expertise in financial services, their proven BPO track record, and their ability to hire the right talent, we are confident our JV company would deliver real value to clients in the Gulf".

On the headcount front, Sundaram BPO was in the process of hiring over 200 people, including qualified accountants and management graduates this year to take its headcount to over 650.

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