In a considerable number of developing countries, the consulting services industry is small and insignificant in the overall economic structure. Yet the importance of such services for modern economic growth and international competitiveness cannot be ignored, and awareness of the need for the establishment of a viable industry must be created among government policy makers and other important actors. Therefore, an important area of technical assistance should relate to alerting policy makers to the need for support to an indigenous consulting service industry and the role of FDI and other forms of cooperation with foreign service providers in raising the level of competence in the industry.
With increased competition in most domestic markets for consultancy services, the changing conditions for entry into international markets become vitally important for exploring business opportunities. For this reason, it will be increasingly necessary for consultancy firms to identify niches for exports of their services. In identifying such niches, the local capabilities should be evaluated in terms of the following components:
• The available skills of basic staff, including both formal educational level and extent of on-the-job training;
• Project management skills of managerial personnel; • Availability of computing hardware and software;
Given that consulting is a “people business”, it is vitally important to contribute to the development of human resources. Another area of technical assistance could therefore support the design of training courses that raise the qualification levels of local consultants in developing countries. In addition, an important area of assistance may be to improve the participation of consultants from developing countries in seminars and conferences in developed countries. Finally, the establishment of professional associations for consultants in developing countries can facilitate the exploitation of training opportunities, the dissemination of quality assurance systems and certification, and the formulation of various ethical or professional standards.
The extent of knowledge of foreign markets for consulting and the opportunities for exploring such markets with regard to export of services traditionally tend to be very limited in developing countries. An area of technical assistance for many developing countries - perhaps specifically those in which a consultancy industry is already in existence - is therefore related to improving access to information on potential assignments for consultants from developing countries; for example, engineering consultants in these countries may benefit from better access to information about projects to be undertaken by international organizations, international financial institutions or other donors.
Technical assistance related to improvement of the information and communications infrastructure for the consultancy industry may be especially useful in countries where interaction with foreign service providers promises to expand and upgrade the services offered locally. The growing role of Internet access in providing access to sources of information, or furnishing new marketing opportunities for firms from developing countries, should not be underestimated.
Notes
1. The discussion of Malaysian experience is based on Hoong (1991).
2. See Clolery (1994). This survey shows the regional differences in specialization and business strategy
for the same accounting firms.
3. See “PwC, PeopleSoft link up”, Businessline, Islamabad, 13 May 1999, p. 1, and “Good news for
West Bengal: more cities are joining the country’s drive to become a significant force in the sector”, Financial Times, 2 December 1998, p. 7.
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