Eastern and Central European Outsourcing

A new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) confirms that Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) can be highly competitive with Asia as a location from which to source products and services for Western European markets.

According to the report, The Central and Eastern European Opportunity—Creating Global Advantage in Serving Western Europe, misperceptions about the CEE region, combined with the tremendous attention recently afforded to China, have led some companies to overlook CEE and take much of their sourcing and manufacturing to Asia.

BCG’s research suggests that companies aiming to sell products and services in Western Europe should take a close look at opportunities for sourcing and manufacturing in CEE countries, and should carefully weigh those opportunities against the possible benefits and certain risks of going farther afield.

Four areas in which CEE countries compare favorably with China and other rapidly developing economies (RDEs), says BCG, are:

-Cost competitiveness
-Growing markets
-Talent pools
-The business environment, notably in intellectual property.