Indian IT industry looks Pak

NEW DELHI: Indian infotech industry for the first time is looking towards doing business together with their brethrens in Pakistan.
A delegation of senior executives from twenty IT companies – including Tata Consultancy Services, HP Globalsoft, i-Flex, Oracle, Mphasis, Xansa, NIIT, Computer Associates, Zensar Technologies, Mindtree Consulting, Wipro Infotech, Nucleus Software, Newgen Software Technologies – will visit the neighboring country mid-December to take first-hand stock of Pakistan’s fledgling IT industry and step up effort to work jointly in the infotech space.
"Indian companies will be looking at Pakistan as an investment destination,� says Kiran Karnik, president, Nasscom. While IT companies from Pakistan will look at leveraging India’s brand name in the global IT arena, the country can be ready source for manpower for the fast expanding Indian BPO/ITeS industry. Pakistan can also prove be a good hunting ground for the Indian IT training sector.
In Pakistan, Nasscom is expected to sign a MoU with Pakistan Software House Association (PASHA), their counterparts from the industry in Pakistan. Indian companies would have one to one interaction with government officials and representatives of local industry to work out areas of partnerships between the companies.
PASHA is organizing the first ever India-Pakistan IT Summit in Islamabad on Dec 16. 2004. Other than Islamabad, the Indian delegation will also visit Karachi and Lahore.
According to Jehan Ara, president, PASHA, the Pakistan software industry has a diverse mix of SME players and large IT companies. “This summit will be a step in the direction of exploring and cultivating trade opportunities between the two countries in the IT and ITES sector," added Ara.
A business delegation from Pakistan’s infotech industry had earlier this year visited Mumbai and interacted with several Indian companies.
Karnik said both the countries can look at working jointly in the infotech space to get a larger share of the global IT business. MNCs like H-P and Oracle already have business units in Pakistan. Indian IT industry has as part of its Go East policy, working towards penetrating markets in the Asia-Pacific region. Around a dozen Indian companies have presence in China even as efforts are on to work more closely with companies in South Korea and Malaysia.