SMAU PROVIDES
OPPORTUNITIES TO TAP NEW MARKETS AND DIVERSIFY PRODUCTS – SHRI
MAHAJAN
MINISTER
INAUGURATES SMAU 2002 AT MILAN
INDIA
GIVEN STATUS OF GUEST COUNTRY AT THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
Union Minister for
Parliamentary Affairs, Communications and Information Technology,
Shri Pramod Mahajan today inaugurated SMAU 2002 at Milan (Italy).
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Mahajan said SMAU 2002 provided
the ideal platform to Indian IT&Telecom entrepreneurs to showcase
their value added products and services to the markets in the
European and Mediterranean region. This was an opportunity to
diversify products and services in untapped markets. The Minister
said it was the first time that India had been given an opportunity
to show to the world as to why it had become the ‘Gateway Hub
for IT&Telecom opportunities’.
Elaborating further,
Shri Mahajan called upon Italian IT companies to come to India
to explore market opportunities in the IT&Telecom sector.
India was an important investment destination due to the strong
demographic profile it projected which, in turn, created market
opportunities for prospective investors. He specifically mentioned
the role of the middle class in creating growth opportunities
in the Indian economy. The Minister also touched upon the market
potential of India’s rural population and said rural India would
perhaps become the next investment destination for foreign entrepreneurs.
The endeavour of the Government, Shri Mahajan added, was to provide
value added accessible connectivity to the people. This has created
market opportunities for all investors in domestic IT&Telecom
sector.
The Minister also
stated that in the current knowledge economy, it was important
to build upon the fundamentals of the old economy. For any economy
to grow, it was important to balance between the nuances of the
old and the new economy. It is India’s vision and dream to become
the reservoir of human resource development in the IT sector in
the years to come. He also touched upon the strategic sectors
where investment was coming in a big way. He specifically mentioned
the growth potential of the small and medium industries and call
centres in the IT sector.
Shri Mahajan also
inaugurated the India country Pavilion organised by NASSCOM at
SMAU 2002. The Minister interacted with the business delegation
and the exhibitors who are showcasing their products at the exhibition.
Prominent members who participated include: Mr. Rajan Mittal,
MD, Bharti Group, Mr. Arun Kumar, Chairman, NASSCOM & President,
Hughes Software, Mr. Phiroz Vandrevala, Executive Vice-President,
Tata Consultancy Services, Mr. Anil Kekre, Head Europe Operations,
Satyam Computer Services, Ltd., Mr. Ashok Kumar, Chief Executive
Officer, Kedia Infotech Systems Ltd.,Mr. R.K. Arora, Executive
Director, C-DAC, Mr. Vinay Deshpande and the Simputer team. Prior
to the inaugural ceremony, Sh. Mahajan was received by President
of Lombardia and the Italian Minister for Innovation and Technologies,
Mr. Lucio Stanca.
SMAU is world’s second
largest ICT exhibition and Italy’s premier event on Information
and Communications Technology. It is a comprehensive event that
covers the entire spectrum of ICT, ranging from solutions to the
newest technologies for the consumer market. Statistics on SMAU
2001: Number of visitors 410,000, Exhibitors over 3,000 companies
including 800 foreign companies, exhibition area: 106,000 sq.mts
in 26 halls. SMAU hosts exhibitors from an extensive number of
countries. This year SMAU will host companies from Argentina,
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Central/South America, China,
Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany,
Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel,
Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia,
South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab
Emirates and the United States of America.
For the first time,
India has been given the status of a guest country at SMAU and
an Indian exhibitor delegation is participating to showcase India’s
software products, solutions and services. This year for the first
time there will be a special conference hosted on "Italy-India:
The Business Opportunities" which will be held tomorrow. The Indian
exhibitor delegation will comprise large companies such as TCS
and Satyam and small and medium companies such as Nucleus Software
Exports Ltd, Persistent Systems Pvt. Ltd., Kedia Infotech Ltd.,
Prologix Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Netripples Software, Unision
Softech, Encore and Servion Global Solutions Ltd. Some of the
product and services on display at SMAU 2002, include IT Enabled
service offerings by Indian companies, product development based
on smart card technology, e-commerce, banking, telecom and enterprise
solutions and communication solutions based on next generation
interactive voice response systems.
