Safe Drive@GTECH

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) / World Bank joint report, road traffic injuries were the 11th leading cause of death. Without appropriate action and multi stakeholder participation the report estimates that by 2020 this will outpace AIDS, Malaria and War as the world public health challenge. The private sector in India has been involved in multisector and safety initiatives because of the risks posed by the issue to core business activities and also an understanding that the factors driving the road safety facility require a total systems approach engaging all stakeholders.

Understanding the long-term implications of this, Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH) in association with National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), Energy Management Centre and Executive Knowledge Lines launched the Safe Drive @ GTECH campaign in Technopark
With over 6,000 vehicles operating on a daily basis, Technopark has the third largest fleet after the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and the VSSC. The companies functioning on the campus also employ over 500 professional drivers for buses, mini buses, utility vehicles and cars transporting employees to the campus and back.
This unique GTECH initiative was aimed at enhancing fuel efficiency, cutting down on road rage, improving road etiquette, avoiding accidents, providing response strategies and ensuring statutory compliance.
The first batch of 30 drivers has undergone the training programme during the last week of December 2007.
Group of Technopark Companies have lined up a series of programmes as a follow up to the first launch as GTECH considers it important to ensure that Technopark drivers, like other professionals on the campus, exhibit the highest standards of professional competence. SafeDrive@GTech is aimed at achieving this objective as well as to enhance the quality of traffic in Thiruvananthapuram

Subhiksha- The Retail Giant

Subhiksha is the country's largest retail outlet running nearly 500 supermarkets in the north and south. subhiksha which was started in the year 1997 is now an household name selling quality products at an affordable rate targeting the Aam admi. Subhiksha was started by an young Entreprenuer named R Subramanian who is an alumunus of the two prestigious institutions in the country- IIT and IIM. In the words of Mr. Subramanian the inner urge of developing a unique business model suitable for the country made him stay in India. He says India is a land of opportunity and should not follow the foot steps of western business practiceses. He was also partly involved in the Financial markets before he started Subhiksha.

Subiksha not only sells food and other FMCG products but also mobile phones under the mobile store concept. Though Subhiksha was started in Chennai , it has largely moved into North India with sizable presence in Noida, Gurgoan, Delhi, Punjab and Hariyana . subhiksha's vision for the next decade. Mr. Subramanian wants to see Subhiksha emerge as the biggest retail supermarket in India bringing the farm produce directly from the fields to the consumer table. Mr. Subramanian wants to re-engineer the entire supply chain Management system.

Best wishes Mr. Subramanian.

EGYPT- The New Destination for Indian IT Companies

The new country that is catching the attention of the world is Eqypt which is fastly emerging as the new IT/ITES Destination. The Government of Egypt has taken a key initiative in promoting the nation as an importnat player in the IT/ITES sphere. It is also noteworthy to observe that many Indian companies are also considering the option of setting up a strategic unit in Egypt to access the African Market. The other advantage of operating in Egypt is the cost advantage and the availaibility of skilled manpower. The Government also has developed an IT park called SMART VILLAGE which houses international companies like HP, Ericcson, Sun Microsystems etc. already Indian IT Majors like I-flex, Aptech and Wipro have started their Egyptian operations. Satyam computers is all set to open a development center in Smart Village.

Egypt has been ranked the thirteenth most attractive destination to set up an offshore service, according to a study by A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm. The study, which looked at 50 countries, was based on the evaluation of three main factors: financial structure, availability of skilled workers and overall business environment. As a result of reforms to Egypt’s business climate — such as lowering the cost of employment, the increased availability of attractive business properties like Smart Village and flexible income tax regulations — in addition to burgeoning language and computer skills on the part of the Egyptian population, Egypt is becoming a prime destination for India’s IT giants, who are coming to boost the industry as well as take advantage of Egypt’s underutilized workforce.

The Government of Egypt has also established an agency called Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) .The aim of this agency is to increase the exports of ICT products and services and increase the inward investments into Egypt.

It should be a strategic insight for Indian companies to look for options in Egypt when the companies are feeling the heat for overdependance on the US Market . The pressure on margins can also be decreased by penetrating into new markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Kerala and Bavaria reinforces Economic and Trade Relations

Kerala and Bavaria today reinforced their economic and trade relations in Trivandrum and reverberated the need to develop stronger and deeper relations especially in the IT front. This was the key highlight of a Session on Europe via Munich, Business and Market opportunities in Germany organised by the Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH) in Trivandrum.

Kerala IT entrepreneurs can tap the lucrative European Union (EU) market by setting up base in Bavaria, the largest and most industrialised state in Germany, German Deputy Consul General Horst Pfeifer said .

Making a presentation at the session on Europe Via Munich, Business and Market Opportunities for Indian Companies in Bavaria / Germany' Mr Pfeifer said some 60 Indian companies had already set up their offices or manufacturing units in Bavaria with an investment of more than USD 900 million. These included Dr Reddy's Pharmaceuticals, TCS, Satyam, HCL, iGate and Wipro, he added.
''Bavaria, the largest German state, is virtually at the centre of Europe and provides a gateway for Indian businessmen to explore the EU market,'' he added.
''Home to respected brands like BMW, Audi, Siemens, Puma, Adidas and Allianz, Bavaria is the heart of the hi-tech industry in Germany in the areas such as IT, electronics, aerospace, automobiles, mechanical Engineering and telecommunications,'' he said.
With India also taking a lead in hi-tech areas such as IT and telecommunication, the entrepreneurs from the two countries had a natural synergy, Mr Pfeifer added.

Delivering the special address during the occasion, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Secretary IT, Government of Kerala said that the Kerala with its core strength in the Information Technology sector is better positioned to partner Bavaria and called for enhanced cooperation and dialogue between both the states to further strengthen the bilateral economic cooperation. Stating that the fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong, Dr. Kumar said Indian firms were becoming globally competitive and the country was emerging as an export hub for a range of products from agricultural goods to automobilie components and IT enabled services.

Mr John Kottayil, Executive Director, State of Bavaria India Office, Bangalore said export from Bavaria was 150 billion Euros last year. Inviting investors in the 19 manufacturing clusters in the state, he said all assistances were provided to potential investors. Mr Quintus Bartscherer, Partner, KoBa-Treuhand GmbH, said Germany was in the process of enacting a new law to bring down the share capital from 25,000 to 10,000 Euros.

Ms Britta Peterson-Barhnusen, Head of Passport and Visa Section, German Consulate in Chennai, said the consulate had issued 38,000 visas last year, 80 per cent of which were the Shengen business visas. There was a 17 per cent growth in the number of visas issued by the consulate last year, she said, adding that the target for this year was 42,000 visas. The German consulate in Chennai receives 350 applications every day and schedules nearly 120 visa interviews daily. The Shengen business visa enabled entry to more than 20 European countries, she said.

Mr. Satish Babu, Hon. Secretary GTECH and President InApp Information Technologies welcomed the members to the session

The session was organised by Group of Technopark companies in Association with the Bavarian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport and Technology.