City gets set for mega IT event

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MARCH 8. The Asia Society's 12th Annual Corporate Conference, which will be held here from Sunday, promises to be a mega event bringing together 500 corporates, over half of them from outside India. Corporate delegates who have confirmed their participation include those from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Korea and Indonesia.

The three-day event with the theme ``Asia's technology future: Transforming business'' was significant in view of the slowdown in the IT industry in the United States and its possible fallout on India and other Asian countries, Mr. Marshall M.Bouton, Executive Vice-President of the Asia Society, told presspersons on Thursday. The Bangalore conference promised to be ``the best ever held,'' he added.

Expressing his deep appreciation for the efforts made by the CII and the Karnataka Government as partners in the event, Mr. Bouton said certain IT corporates of Bangalore were also of great help. One was BPL Innovision and the second, Infosys Technologies, whose CEO, Mr. N.R.Narayana Murthy, was considered ``a business visionary'' across the world.

There were several factors which made the event topical. First, it focused on the prospects of the technology sector in Asia; the role of this sector in the larger economy and removing artificial barriers between the Old and New economies and requirements for the growth of the technology sector such as infrastructure, liberal regulatory environment and human resources. The difference between this and earlier conferences was that this time, issues across the Asian region were being discussed. While India was good in the software services segment, it had to compete with other Asian nations and move up the value chain with more branded products, Mr. Bouton felt. The global IT slowdown was beginning to affect India too and it was time to ponder whether this was a cyclical phenomenon or something more.

The Union Budget was looked upon as showing ``courage and vision'' and as one which pushed forward the second generation of economic reforms, Mr. Bouton remarked. The role of the technology sector in India's economy was being acknowledged and the Prime Minister's hopes of a 9 per cent growth could well come true. On the Bush administration's relations with India, he felt the close ties would be taken forward further.

The Asia Society, founded 40 years ago, is a non-profit educational organisation educating Americans about Asia. Over 10,000 corporate delegates attended the 11 annual conferences held since 1989.

Mr. N.Srinivasan, Deputy Director-General of CII, one of the organising sponsors, said the conference was the manifestation of a three-way partnership involving the Asia Society, CII and the Government of Karnataka. The Prime Minister's presence at the inaugural session on Sunday, despite Parliament being in session, showed the importance of the event. The CII was in the process of establishing its Competitive Centre in Bangalore, to bring together the Old and New economies.

The Bangalore meet was being held at a time when the Union Budget -- rated eight out of 10 by the CII -- had brought new cheer and hope to Indian business, Mr. Srinivasan said. An anticipation of 7 per cent GDP growth and 20 per cent growth in exports appeared to be justified from the turn the economy was taking.

The Minister for Large and Medium Industries, Mr. R.V.Deshpande, said the Asia Society Conference amounted to a global recognition of Bangalore as the IT capital of Asia. It was the first such conference of the Asia Society to be held outside a national capital.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Power tariff hike: 'No tax' campaign on anvil
Next     : Quota rules for local body polls soon