Consulting firm A.T. Kearney Inc. for the first time added Pakistan to a list of 50 countries that it evaluates for their offshore services market potential. A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index weighs more than 40 metrics, such as a country’s labor pool, infrastructure and legal system.

According to Lehman Brothers, Pakistan’s advantages include relatively low wages — amounting to as little as half the level of salaries in India — as well as reasonable real estate costs, plentiful government incentives and a readily available supply of workers.

Not so bullish is Todd Furniss, chief operating officer at the Everest Research Institute, an independent arm of consulting firm Everest Group in Dallas. He questioned whether Pakistan’s educational system is adequately preparing students for the IT services labor market.

But the biggest problem that is holding back Pakistan’s IT services industry is the geopolitical situation there, according to Furniss. “That is really is a central issue,” he said.

Companies seeking offshore services have a wide range of choices, said Cliff Justice, head of globalization at Houston-based consulting firm EquaTerra Inc. There are many other countries that offer similar outsourcing options and “don’t come with the issues that Pakistan comes with right now,” Justice said.

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