Kuala Lumpur, Nov 15 (IANS) Malaysia beat outsourcing giants China and India to play host to the Asian leg of an international outsourcing conference to held in May next year.”Chairman of the conference titled ‘Outsourcing World’ Michael Corbett was impressed with how Malaysia handled the World Congress on Information Technology in Kuala Lumpur last May,” said David Wong, chairman of Outsourcing Malaysia - a special interest group set up by the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia.

“Malaysia is actively promoting professional qualifications in that industry, such as the Certified Outsourcing Professional Programme,” Wong said, explaining his country’s choice as the host.

This will be the first time that Outsourcing World is being held in Asia. It will be a two-day event, Star Online said Saturday.

“There is still a lot of untapped potential in the outsourcing industry in the country,” Wong said.

“Our shared services and outsourcing sector is growing at twice the global rate of 15 percent and we have a good chance to achieve our target of RM7 billion ($ 2 billion approx.) worth of business by 2012,” Wong said.

The conference, he added, would act as a catalyst for the local outsourcing industry.

Fadillah Yusoff, deputy minister of science, technology and innovation, who was at the press conference, said there are currently more than 130 shared services and outsourcing companies in the MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor) Malaysia.

These companies, he said, range from prominent local players to multinationals, and that Malaysia is also home to about 250 call centres.