High-profile visits

IT IS EASY to identify a few common strands in the several messages flowing from the recent high-profile visits to the country of Mr. Bill Gates and Mr. Jack F. Welch. Surrounding both has been plenty of hype but that is not to say that there has been no substance. The Microsoft Chairman, on his second visit to the country in quick succession, hogged the limelight first, what with as many as ten Chief Ministers going all out in trying to entice the world's number one software company to leave some kind of foot-print on their respective States. Mr. Welch's visit too has evoked plenty of interest. Indeed the visit of a CEO who is most admired for his remarkable transformation of GE into the most valued company in the world cannot be otherwise. Yet there has been a subtle distinction in the way the visits of both have been perceived. Is it because one is thoroughly identified with the so-called New Economy and the other the Old Economy? Interestingly last year's visit to India of a CEO of the status of Ford Motor Company's Mr. Nasser did not evoke the same excitement over an extended constituency - comprising the politicians and others - as Mr. Gates's did on both the occasions.

Getting back to the commonalities, the fact that business leaders can enjoy so much adulation whether they invest, preach or even hector is ample proof that not only corporate India but practically everyone else perceives a definite value in their visits. Quite evidently what has definitely changed is the mindset of the average Indian: the eagerness to court captains of industry, to listen and to occasionally receive their investments seems to be an essential attribute of political governance. That probably explains why Chief Ministers of States ranging from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar queued up before Mr. Bill Gates. The latter category has lagged behind in their preparedness to receive software investments compared to the former. Indeed no one was surprised when Mr. Gates confined his new not-very-large investments of $50 million to the two States his company is already familiar and comfortable with. That the States having a headstart in any industry will continue to gain momentum is further proved by the opening of a $100 million research centre by GE inBangalore. To those tangible investments must be added the notable strategic alliance between Microsoft and Infosys to develop and market E-based business solutions on a continuing basis. There are advantages to both. Microsoft gains from Infosys's cost-competitiveness and technical expertise. Infosys will have access to the global reach of Microsoft. Still, some aspects of the deal - as for instance who will own the intellectual property rights of the products the alliance will develop - are not clear.

One has to look beyond the readily apparent consequences to arrive at a proper estimate of such publicised visits. Many political leaders hoped for even a symbolic representation from the biggest software company merely to leverage the connection and jump into the big league. Software itself currently is both fashionable and capable of heaping immediate rewards on those who repose faith. Yet not all Indian software companies are in the same league as Infosys and capable of striking an alliance with Microsoft any more than they have been capable of a Nasdaq listing. Besides, as Mr. Welch, whose company is a giant capital goods maker, pointed out infrastructure development is the key to everything including software development. That indeed is the salutary message from the two essentially business-oriented visits.

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