JCCI chief urges firms to seize India IT opportunities

The Saudi Indian business community was apprised about the prospects of investments in India in the IT sector, outsourcing their activities to India during a seminar at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Saudi Indian Business Network (SIBN) organized the event with the support of the consulate general of India in association with the JCCI.
“We are proud about the relationship between Saudi Arabia and India, which goes back a long time in history,” Adnan Mandourah, JCCI secretary general, told Arab News.
He said bilateral relations had strengthened in course of time and there are growing opportunities for both Saudi and Indian business owners.
“There is a big demand for IT services. As India is an expert in this field and has highly trained professionals in this sector, we are encouraging business owners to exploit the opportunities,” he added.
“Our hearts and minds are open to receive new ideas and learn from experience,” Mandourah said.
Dr. Prabir K. Das, director of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), under the Indian ministry of communication and IT, who was the keynote speaker, said STPI facilitates software and services exports.
“Our primary role is infrastructure support in the form of incubations, incubation support as well as connectivity to the exporting houses in India, and do exports certifications.”
The exporting houses are either of Indian origin or MNCs putting up their facilities in India. He said 100 percent FDI (foreign direct investment) is permitted to set up an STPI unit.
According to him, between 2000 to 2013 in the computer software and hardware sector total foreign direct investment has been to the tune of $7.97b.
This is the right moment for India and Saudi Arabia to come together and work to dominate the world, he said.
“India and Saudi Arabia need to complement each other,” he added.
He said SIBN is the nodal point for high-level interaction between business communities of India and Saudi Arabia.
According to him, India is the fifth largest export market for Saudi Arabia accounting for 7.55 percent of its global exports.
Consul General Faiz Ahmad Kidwai said all MNCs have offices in India.
“Our success is the result of combined efforts of our leaders in business and industry, and our government policies are responsible for the growth.”
There are 55 technology parks in India that have given a major boost to IT and ITES exports. The STPI scheme is lauded as one of the most effective schemes for the promotion of exports of IT and ITES.
Between April 2000 and January 2013, the computer software and hardware sector attracted cumulative FDI of $11.871 billion. Many foreign MNCs such as Intel, Microsoft, Dell, IBM, Cisco, Accenture, Cognizant, SAP, Hewlett Packard, Capgemini, Ingram, Micro and Oracle are operating from India.
Cognizant has been selected by the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to develop a comprehensive billing and revenue management solution based on SAP utilities enterprise software to meet the functional, technical and operational requirements of SEC’s rapid growth.

Ataat Khan, CEO, Kameda Arabia Pvt. Ltd. a joint venture between an Indian and a Japanese technology company with a Saudi Arabian company — Dr. Sulaiman Fakeeh Group, said India is a great country with respect to finding manpower, which is the most important thing. Then comes environment. India still lacks infrastructure. The infrastructure within the technology parks is excellent but the supporting infrastructure, such as the roads need improvement.
“Those are the challenges, which I think India is overcoming. For example the airports are getting better now,” he said, adding that the presentation was very useful.
“Overall we had a very good experience.”
He said Kameda Arabia, which makes hospitals paperless and filmless, has moved its R&D center from Tokyo to Bengaluru and Trivandrum because of all the facilities, services, and incentives available in India. Laiq ur Rahman, senior sales executive, Al Fozan Metals Co., Jeddah, found the presentation impressive, and said there should be at least two such seminars every year, and the commercial and business relations between the two countries should boom.
Michele Lemens, director of BPS Center, Tata Consultancy Services, KSA, also addressed the gathering.
The seminar was attended by Mazen Batterjee, vice-chairman of the chamber and president of SIBN, Adnan Mandourah, JCCI secretary general, businessmen, senior executives and students from various institutes.