Bavarian State urged to set up trade office

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 20:

The Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, has requested the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the State of Bavaria, Germany, to open a representative office in Kerala to promote closer bilateral relationship between the States.

The request was conveyed through Mr John Kottayil, Executive Director at the Indian Office of Invest-In-Bavaria, a trade promotional agency based in Bangalore, when the latter called on him on Tuesday evening.

The Chief Minister observed that that the representative office should help in the popularisation of ayurveda in the State of Bavaria as well as the Federal Republic of Germany. It would also act as the conduit for sourcing investments from Germany.

Mr Kottayil had earlier said that the areas of bilateral cooperation had been identified as IT, biotechnology, tourism, food technology and environment.

The Chief Minister also referred to the vexatious problem of solid waste management in the State.

He requested that the proposed Bavarian office make useful interventions in identifying suitable German technology that could be adopted to deal with the issue here.

BAVARIAN DELEGATION

Mr Kottayil said he would bring in environmental experts from Bavaria for an interaction with the Kerala Government to work out a suitable model of action.

The meeting also decided to set up a joint working group comprising entrepreneurs from Kerala and Bavaria to facilitate interactions between business communities of the two States.

Bavaria to encourage investments in State

The German State of Bavaria, one of the largest economies in Europe and headquarters of international brands such as Audi, BMW, Siemens, Adidas, and Airbus, will open its office here to the explore the possibilities of encouraging investments in the State. The decision was taken following discussions between Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and John Kottayil, executive director at the Indian office of Invest-in-Bavaria, a Bangalore-based investment promotion agency, here on Tuesday.

Mr. Kottayil told The Hindu that there was immense scope for collaboration between the two States in information technology (IT), tourism, and environmental technology. He said it made sense for Bavaria to share its expertise with Kerala in key areas such as renewable energy. A collaboration involving the sharing of knowledge and technology transfer could have a huge socio-economic impact. “We are keen to cooperate with India in the mission to tap solar energy,” he said.

Mr. Kottayil said a Bavarian business delegation was expected to visit Kerala this year to identify partners. “Ever since Invest-in-Bavaria opened an office in Bangalore, bilateral trade between India and Bavaria has grown significantly, touching two billion Euros. As many as 72 Indian companies have set up shop in Bavaria. From IT and media, our investments have extended to other sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. There is a huge market waiting to be tapped on both sides,” he said.

The Bavarian system of industrial growth, Mr. Kottayil explained, is built on a cluster approach and marked by a structured collaboration between science, research, and commerce, know-how transfer, interdisciplinary networks, and the interplay between large, small, and medium-sized enterprises. He said clean energy and skill development, areas in which Bavaria had acquired a significant progress, could prove to be potential sectors for collaboration.

Invest-in-Bavaria is working closely with GTech (Group of Technology Companies), the industry body of software companies in Kerala, to identify partners on either side. GTech is also planning a reciprocal visit to Bavaria later on, its chief executive officer, Binu Shankar, said.

Interest

Mr. Kottayil said the industrial clusters in Bavaria had evinced interest in tying up with companies in Kerala. “Almost 90 per cent of the Bavarian IT companies are mid-sized, employing 50 to 500 people. They will be interested in collaboration with similar firms in Kerala,” he said.

He said the partnership between companies could gradually be expanded to a government-level pact.

The demographic profile of Germany, he said, is marked by a dominant population of the ageing. This is unlike the situation in India where young, talented manpower is available in plenty.

Bavaria to encourage investments in State

The German State of Bavaria, one of the largest economies in Europe and headquarters of international brands such as Audi, BMW, Siemens, Adidas, and Airbus, will open its office here to the explore the possibilities of encouraging investments in the State. The decision was taken following discussions between Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and John Kottayil, executive director at the Indian office of Invest-in-Bavaria, a Bangalore-based investment promotion agency, here on Tuesday.

Mr. Kottayil told The Hindu that there was immense scope for collaboration between the two States in information technology (IT), tourism, and environmental technology. He said it made sense for Bavaria to share its expertise with Kerala in key areas such as renewable energy. A collaboration involving the sharing of knowledge and technology transfer could have a huge socio-economic impact. “We are keen to cooperate with India in the mission to tap solar energy,” he said.

Mr. Kottayil said a Bavarian business delegation was expected to visit Kerala this year to identify partners. “Ever since Invest-in-Bavaria opened an office in Bangalore, bilateral trade between India and Bavaria has grown significantly, touching two billion Euros. As many as 72 Indian companies have set up shop in Bavaria. From IT and media, our investments have extended to other sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. There is a huge market waiting to be tapped on both sides,” he said.

The Bavarian system of industrial growth, Mr. Kottayil explained, is built on a cluster approach and marked by a structured collaboration between science, research, and commerce, know-how transfer, interdisciplinary networks, and the interplay between large, small, and medium-sized enterprises. He said clean energy and skill development, areas in which Bavaria had acquired a significant progress, could prove to be potential sectors for collaboration.

Invest-in-Bavaria is working closely with GTech (Group of Technology Companies), the industry body of software companies in Kerala, to identify partners on either side. GTech is also planning a reciprocal visit to Bavaria later on, its chief executive officer, Binu Shankar, said.

Interest

Mr. Kottayil said the industrial clusters in Bavaria had evinced interest in tying up with companies in Kerala. “Almost 90 per cent of the Bavarian IT companies are mid-sized, employing 50 to 500 people. They will be interested in collaboration with similar firms in Kerala,” he said.

He said the partnership between companies could gradually be expanded to a government-level pact.

The demographic profile of Germany, he said, is marked by a dominant population of the ageing. This is unlike the situation in India where young, talented manpower is available in plenty.

GTech gives thumbs-up to ‘focused Budget'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 11:

Group of Technology companies (GTech), the industry body of IT companies in the State, has complimented the State Government for presenting what it calls a ‘focused and balanced' Budget.

According to Mr V.K. Mathews, Chairman, GTech, and Executive Chairman of IBS Group, the Budget has several positives and highlights the priorities of the Government.

RIGHT SIGNAL

Specific projects have been mentioned and earmarked commensurate outlay. This is significant and sends out the signal that the Government is earnest in completing specific big ticket investments in a time-bound manner. However, according to him, a lot more could have been done for road development. The amount set aside for this critical infrastructure would not be sufficient for a much touted initiative such as the north-south corridor.

GTech welcomed the proposal to invest in the infrastructure needs of the IT industry in the cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.

According to Mr Anoop Ambika, Secretary, GTech, the IT industry has the potential to transform the socio-economic landscape of the State.

Any promise of support to it would be wholeheartedly welcomed.

LAUNDABLE MOVE

The move to bring policy-making processes handled by various departments under one umbrella is a laudable move, Mr Ambika said. This will go a long way in ensuring effective inter-departmental co-ordination and faster decision making, he added.

GTech appreciated the ‘bold steps' to address social issues such as the declared intention to making the State garbage-free, the self-employment and entrepreneurship programme, pension for marginal farmers over the age of 60 and health insurance for all school-going children.

On the economic front too, the Budget has made significant fund allocations, notably for the development of the State Capital and development of industrial parks elsewhere.

INFRA PROJECTS

Specific projects have been mentioned and allocations made with respect to each. These include the proposed Kochi Metro project, the Kannur Airport, the Vizinjam international port and container transhipment terminal and the SmartCity projects.

The conduct of the investor meet titled ‘Emerging Kerala' would be a significant step in creating a platform for inviting investments into the State.

GTech also welcomed the proposal to create a high-impact ‘Brand Kerala Campaign'. Campaigns such as these would help the State Government and industry to come together to showcase Kerala as an important investment destination.

Keywords: Group of Technology companies, state budget,

Kerala has natural, social, educational advantages that benefit the IT sector'

Q&A: Binu Sankar, CEO, GTech

'Kerala has natural, social, educational advantages that benefit the IT sector'

George Joseph / Chennai July 11, 2011, 0:24 IST

The Group of Technology Companies (G-Tec), a 175-member organisation of IT & ITeS companies in Techno Park and Info Park, has proposed that the state government start an 'Invest in Kerala Mission', on the lines of 'Invest in Sweden' and 'Invest in Scotland' campaigns to attract IT-sector investments into the state. In an interview with George Joseph in Kochi, GTech chief executive officer Binu Sankar says the prosopsals are expected to be included in the new IT investment policy. Excerpts:

Are you hopeful of making Kerala the most attractive IT destination in India?
Surely, Kerala has the natural, social and educational advantages to become the most sought-out IT destination of India. Talented young people are abundant in Kerala. Along the length and breadth of the state basic infrastructure facilities like roads, power etc are available. If the government can offer one of the basic facilites at lower cost, the state will be the obvious choice of IT companies

How do you see Kerala's progress compared with other south Indian states in IT sector?
Kerala had started the first IT park in India in the late 1980s, but it could not maintian that level of initiative in the next two decades. Even now the state' s IT sector is providing direct employment to just 40,000 people. Techno Park Thiruvananthapuram is having 30,000 employees and another 10,000 in Info Park Kochi. But just one campus of a major IT company in Bangalore is having strength of 20,000-25,0000. So Kerala is lagging far behind, though it was the pioneer in this sector.

Also, top IT companies like TCS and Infosys have a nominal presence in Kerala. Techno Park and Info Park account for 90 per cent of Kerala's IT business. In 2009-10, the total business trunover of the sector in Kerala was Rs 2,412 crore which was just 1 per cent of the total all-India business. This year 16-18 per cent growth is expected. So it is alarming that Kerala's postion is rather insignificant compared to the growth of other states. Apart from that, 70 per cent of the companies are SMEs which employ 15 employees each on an average. This is pathetic when we compare the increasing number of highly educated manpower in the state.

What are the major handicaps that hinder growth in Kerala?
The huge cost escalation on the operations side in recent years is a major concern and we have discussed the issue with the new state government. Five years ago, the major advantage of Kerala was the lower operational costs, which was 50 per cent lower than other major south Indian locations. The lower land prices and rent were the major attaction. But during last couple of years, this had changed tremendoulsy and now Kerala is on a par with other states on the operational cost. The government should address this issue in its IT policy.

What are your expecations from the next phase of development in Kerala in the light of coming up of Techno city and other local IT parks?
Kerala is going through a big leap as major companies are now eyeing the state. Oracle has set up a shop in Thiruvananthapuram and compnies like TCS and Infosys are planning big for Kerala. Smart City will also give a big boost to the state.

What is new on the marketing front and identifying fresh markets?
This May, a G-Tec delegation visited Denmark and Sweden and a sizeable business opportunity had been identified in these countries. Sectors like mobile application, clinical data management, engineering services, embedded systems and renewable energy sources had been identified as potential areas and there would be counter visits from these nations. Business to the tune of Rs 100 crore can be evolved. Experion Global, a Technopark based company, has already signed a deal with Peak Telecom of Denmark. We are also looking at African and ASEAN markets very seriously and invited delegations from there. Other potential markets identified are Finland, Island and Germany.

Do you see any special advantage to Thiruvananthapuram as a destination?
The development of Technocity and the next phases of devlopment of Technopark will provide big opporutinities to the capital. The city can be developed as an R&D hub especially in medical research segment. TCS has acquired 82 acres in Technocity. This will be a milestone in the development of Thiruvananthapuram on the IT map of the country.

What are GTech's other sugestions to the government?
Under the IT Mission Kerala, there should be resident representatives in the US, EU and in West Asia for constant interaction with overseas companies. The success stories from Kerala should be marketed in these countries and promotional initiatives should be strengthened like it happened in God's Own Country campaign in tourism sector. Industry representation should be ensured in the Programme Implementation Board (PIB) of Technopark and Infopark. The government should nurture an ecosystem conducive to industrial and IT development of the state.

Agriculture Growth :Lessons from Gujarat

I was surprised to take note of two articles published in the Business Standard today on Gujarat. One was related to Agriculture and the other on Port Development. In an interesting article written by Shankar Acharya, Gujarat has shown impressive agricultural grwoth over the last decade. The article put this growth at 11.7 %, one of the highest growth witnessed in the country while the national average is at 3%. The author has identified the following reasons for this growth

1. Water conservation and water management programme

2. Well coordinated extension services

3. Successful overhaul of rural electricity distribution

4. Support to livestock development

5. revamping of agriculture supporting infrastructure

In Gujarat over the last decade , market oriented reforms adopted by the state government has helped in delivering this impressive growth. The extension services support programme called Krishi mahotsav programme launched by the state Government provided health cards and Kissan credit cards to the farmers. The programme also helped farmers in making agri ventures more profitable and suggesting alternatives for improving crop productivity. Water conservation and management programme called Jalkranti was adopted aggressively in the state and this model could be adopted in states like Kerala to ensure adequate water resources for agricultural activity. It has to noted that a state like Kerala has only witnessed a0 .7 % growth in the Agri Sector from 2001 to 2009 contributing just 12.4 % of the state GDP.

Binu Sankar

State budget has several positives: GTech

Group of Technology companies (GTech), the industry body of the IT companies in Kerala, compliments the State Government for presenting a focussed and balanced financial budget “The budget has several positives and highlights the priorities of the Government. Specific projects have been mentioned and earmarked budgetary outlay. This is significant and sends out the signal that the Government is earnest in completing specific big ticket investments in a time bound manner. However, a lot more could have been done for road development. The amount set aside for this critical infrastructure would not be sufficient for a much needed initiative like a North-South corridor” says Mr. V K Mathews, GTech Chairman and Executive Chairman of IBS Group.

GTech welcomes the proposal of the state government to invest in the infrastructure needs of the IT industry in the cities of Thiruvanthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. “IT industry has the potential to transform the socio-economic landscape of the state, and any support renderd to it will be received with both hands” says Anoop Ambika, Secretary GTech.

The move to bring the Policies handled by all the departments under one umbrella is indeed a laudable move and is something that will go a long way in ensuring effective inter-departmental co-ordination and faster decision making.

GTech appreciates the Finance Minister’s bold steps on addressing social issues like making the state garbage free, self employment & entrepreneurship programme, pension for marginal farmers over the age of 60 and health insurance for all school going children. On the economic front too, the Government has made significant fund allocations, notably for the development of the state capital and development of industrial parks. Specific projects have been mentioned and budgets allocated against each. These include Kochi Metro, Kannur Airport, Vizinjam Port and Smart City. The organization of the investor meet ‘Emerging Kerala’ event would be a significant step in creating a platform for attracting investments into the state.

GTech also welcomes the proposal of the state government to create a high impact ‘Brand Kerala Campaign’. Such a campaign would help the state government and the industry to come together to showcase Kerala as an important investment destination in the country.

New Kerala IT Policy draft to be published next week

The draft of the new IT policy of Kerala will be published next week. This was announced by the State Minister for Industries and IT, Shri P K Kunhalikutty at a session organised by GTech, the Group of Technology companies based in the Government owned IT Parks in Kerala. The Minister added that the draft, which has been finalised, may be published as early as next Monday.

While asking all the players in the IT industry to study the draft proposal in detail and come out with positive comments, the Minister said, “We hope the policy would aggressively promote the State’s IT industry. It’s only a starting point, give us good suggestions and we will make changes in the final policy”. As part of the 100 day programme of the UDF Government, which came into power in May, the Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy had announced a new IT policy for the State.

V K Mathews, President, GTech and Chairman, IBS, put forth the expectations of the IT industry from the new government. He stressed upon the need for government support to the IT industry in Kerala in terms of rental freeze, incentives for job creation and supply of power / utilities at preferential rates. GTech has also asked for industry representation in the Policy Implementation Boards of Technopark, Trivandrum; Infopark, Kochi and Cyberpark, Kozhikode.

He also called for the relaxation in policy norms which would enable SME’s in Kerala to bid for Kerala Government’s e-Governance projects. This would be good for the government and the companies. The idea of an ‘Invest in Kerala’ mission for promoting investments was mooted by GTech during the session.

In his talk, T Balakrishnan IAS, Addl. Chief Secretary, Dept. of Industries & Commerce said, “Success of home-grown companies will reflect the investment environment in the State and this should encourage more start-ups and others to come to Kerala. But we need to change the ‘not-so-friendly’ image across the investment community”. C P John, Socio-Economic Analyst, made a presentation on the challenges ahead for the IT industry in Kerala.

Mervin Alexander, CEO, Technopark and Binu Sankar, CEO, GTech were among the 200 odd CXOs from about 100 IT Companies from the IT parks in Kerala, who were present on the occasion.

Anil Philip
Kerala IT News