India will remain the top knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) global site despite challenges from China, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Ovum, an independent technology analyst company which released the report on Monday, said that the emergence of new KPO providers in the Asia-Pacific region gave companies that offshore their work more options to select from.

"Being able to delivery services from multiple locations means providers can offer existing clients greater flexibility and minimise the risks associated with having all their operations in one facility, while at the same time tapping into fresh labour pools," Ovum analyst Ed Thomas said.

The lower labour cost and English-speaking manpower in these nations have expanded offerings of KPO companies from the initial research and analytics to more services such as legal process and clinical trial management.

Mr Thomas said China has emerged as a growing favoured site to provide research and development services for life sciences companies, the Philippines is getting known for healthcare services and Sri Lanka for accounting services.

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