HP invests $200m in business support centre

The American IT giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) will invest 200 million dollars (166 million euros) in the next five years in a centre for business process outsourcing located in Bucharest, according to company officials. The new centre was officially launched on Wednesday in the Pipera area. “We currently have 6,000 square metres rented as office space. We want to reach a total 20,000 square metres by 2007” Radu Enache, general manager of HP Romania explained for ZF. The centre is going to provide support for HP customers and partners from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “We will basically outsource our financial, administrative, and technical support,” explained Rudy Kozak, HP”s general manager for emerging countries in South-Eastern Europe. The unit started operating last autumn and already has 325 employees. By the end of the year, they will reach 800. “By the end of next year, this centre will have 1,200 employees,” explained Kozak. The 200 million euros will be mainly used to train personnel as well as to develop infrastructure, according to Kozak. ZF