British minister to attend trade show

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, OCT. 30. The British Minister of State for e-commerce and Competitiveness, Mr. Douglas Alexander, on his first visit to India, will be in Bangalore on November 1 and 2.

India's Silicon Valley, which is playing host to IT industries worldwide at the IT.com 2001, is the high-point of the minister's programme which is designed to promote e-commerce and e- governance cooperation between India and the U.K.

On November 1, Mr. Alexander will attend the inauguration of the Bangalore IT.com, and address the seminar on ``IT for the common man''. The next day, he will call on the Minister of State for IT, Prof. B.K. Chandrashekar. He will also visit the new Wipro facility at Electronics City and the Infosys campus where he will meet Mr. N.R. Narayanamurthy. Mr. Murthy, who is co-chairman of the Indo-British Partnership, will also have discussions with the U.K. co-chairman, Sir David Jeffries.

`Invest U.K.': Later in the day, the minister will give the keynote address at the IT.com-related ``Invest U.K.'' seminar. ``Invest U.K.'' is the British Government agency promoting investment in that country. There are 11,000 Indian IT professionals working in the U.K.

In a message, Mr. Alexander said: ``India and the U.K. both have complimentary strengths in IT, and I believe there is much more that the two countries can do in the field of e-commerce. The U.K. is a preferred gateway to Europe, and we want more of you to come over.'' The British Minister will be meeting the Union Minister for IT and Telecommunications, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, in New Delhi.

U.K. pavilion: Mr. Kelvin Greene, who heads the British Trade Office in Bangalore, said here on Tuesday that the U.K pavilion at IT.com will have 19 British IT corporates besides some trade and HR-related organisations. Besides Invest UK, the U.K. Computer Software Services Association (CSSA), which represents 700 IT and services-sector companies, will be at IT.com. Another will be Trade Partners U.K. (TPUK) which works alongside Invest UK and set up the British Trade Office here.

HB Internet, which will be in the U.K. pavilion, was formed in 1996, with its office in Bangalore, HBI-Software, starting its business last month. The company has a strong association with British Telecom and won the prestigious BT e-Business Solution Provider of 2000 Award.

U.K. Recruitment is a company that helps its clients meet their requirement of human resources. Work Permit.Com is a firm of immigration consultants with presence in the U.K., India, and Latvia. It facilitates applications for visas and work permits, primarily for the IT, telecom and finance sectors.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Premji, Dravid, Suma among winners
Next     : Schroeder sees opportunities in IT, commn. sectors