INDIA NEWS
|
INDIA NEWS |
| No 80/2001 |
23rd October, 2001 |
NASSCOM of India in association with the Financial Times, Europe organized the first “India-Europe IT Summit - Outsourcing to India : Setting a course for value” on October 23, 2001 at Dorchester Hotel, London. The Summit attracted more than 150 companies from UK, Europe and India.
At the inaugural session, High Commissioner for India, Mr. Nareshwar Dayal, said that the sustained growth of the Indian economy, averaging 6% in the last decade is proof that IT has not only added to the productivity of the old economy of India, but has today become a key driver of growth. India is poised to emerge as the third largest economy in the world after USA and China by 2025. The Indian IT sector has shown remarkable growth with software exports reaching $ 6.2 billion in the year 2000-01 and currently growing at the rate of 50% per annum. Mr. Dayal also referred to the fast changing nature of the IT sector and the IT skills shortage in the UK and Europe at large. India is emerging as the preferred global hub for software development and there were enormous opportunities for India, UK and Europe.
Sir Rob Young, KCMG, British High Commissioner to India referred to the excellent relations between India and UK and the immense possibilities for Indian IT companies in UK and from UK into Europe. Mr. Phiroz Vandrevala, Chairman of the NASSCOM, in his presentation, outlined the strength of the Indian IT in areas like call centres, back offices, engineering and design, health care, energy etc. Several leading multinationals from the Fortune list, Mr. Vandrevala said, have either established their R&D centres in India or are collaborating with Indian research centres. Mr. R. R. Shah, Secretary, Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India, in his address outlined the various policies of the Government of India in the IT sector which offer foreign companies wide areas of partnership and joint ventures in India.
Other speakers at the one day event included Sir David Wright, KCMG LVO, Group Chief Executive, British Trade International, Ms. Caroline Goodman, Head of International Business Development, London Stock Exchange, Mr. S. Ramadorai of Tata Consultancy Services, Mr. Vivek Kaul of WIPRO and representatives from BT, HSBC, McKinsey & Company etc.
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