• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

`Japanese IT market remains untapped'

Our Bureau

CHENNAI, June 23

THE infotech industry in Japan is being taken for granted, which has led people to ignore it, according to Mr. Ryuichi Ishii, Consul-General of Japan in Chennai.

Speaking at a seminar on `IT market in Japan', Mr. Ishii stressed that since last year, there has been a turnaround and Japan was on the threshold of a full-fledged IT revolution.

Listing out the reasons for taking Japanese IT industry for granted, he said that Japanese economy was sluggish a couple of years ago.

Another reason was that the US took initiatives in the telecom and infotech sectors to pioneer the concept of e-business. The 1980s saw Japan emerge as a powerhouse, spearheaded by the semi-conductor revolution, he said.

However, Mr. Ishii said that since last year, things have taken a turn for the better and the manufacturing sector has been looking for more IT-enabled facilities.

Mr. D. Prakash, IT Secretary, Tamil Nadu, said that software exports from the State were 18-20 per cent of the total software exports from India.

Tamil Nadu was second to Karnataka in the infotech industry, while Andhra Pradesh exported half of what Tamil Nadu did in the last fiscal, he added.

For 1999-2000, software exports from Tamil Nadu stood at Rs. 1,914 crores. The IT industry in the State has recorded over 400 per cent compounded growth every year in the last five years.

He said that efforts were being taken to bridge the gap between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and ensure that Tamil Nadu takes the lead position in the next 4-5 years.

Mr. I. Tokoi, Senior Investment Advisor, Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), said that the Japanese IT services market was nearly 22 times bigger than that of India, adding that the sector contributed to 1.5 per cent of the country's gross domesti c product (GDP).

Mr. S. Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director of SRA Systems Ltd -- a city-based infotech company which has a Japanese collaboration -- said that India's IT export to Japan was only 6-7 per cent of the total IT exports. Indian companies hav e not yet touched the fringes of the Japanese IT market, he added.