Globalization won growth for Indian software: Karnik

NEW DELHI: Delivering the keynote address at the first Asia Tech Summit, Nasscom president, Kiran Karnik said that globalization is a positive force that has helped India better its economic conditions at a time when globally there was a crunch situation.

"Globalization has helped India achieve tremendous growth even in hard times and make its mark on the world software map. For the past two years India has experienced a growth rate of over 30 percent in terms of software exports. This signifies the value that India advantage brings to the table for global MNCs. India together with China is constituting a powerhouse that is continuously moving Asia forward on the forefront of IT," he added.

Emphasizing the need for US companies to continuously look for outsourcing, Karnik said that there are a lot issues like - cost, time to market, quality and overall value involved with outsourcing. "US companies will continue to look forward to cutting on costs which in turn would provide India opportunities to better position itself as a quality destination for outsourcing for global players," he added.

Speaking at the summit, US Embassy Charge d’ Affair, Robert O Blake, Jr. identified three areas where forward thinking government policies can stimulate the IT sector even further. A strong intellectual property regime providing reduced and simplified tariffs and taxes on IT products and services and enhancing government policies that support the establishment of better infrastructure.

Talking about the outsourcing of IT projects to countries like India, he said that companies in the US and other developed countries seek to cut costs to remain competitive. "Digitization, high-speed data transmission and the Internet infrastructure have made possible the outsourcing of different services to countries like India, Philippines, Ireland and China," he added.

Commenting about the protectionist approach by the US towards outsourcing, Blake, Jr. said, "Outsourcing offers India, job creation and investment, provides US firms with improved efficiency and profitability. This would seem to present a win-win situation. But to succeed, trade must be a two-way street. Indians must realize that there is much painful dislocation and job loss in US and this could become a political issue," he explained. He went on to say that outsourcing should not be restricted and open marketing policies should be encouraged.

(CyberMedia News Service)