PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH AT A SEMINAR ON CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
IN IT SECTOR
The Prime Minister,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee underlined the need for India and China
to share their experiences in the field of information technology
and to develop better strategies to bridge the digital divide
between the two countries and optimising the e-governance systems.
Shri Vajpayee was speaking at a seminar in Shanghai, on the challenges
and opportunities for India and China in the field of information
technology. Outlining the areas of core competence for both the
countries, Shri Vajpayee referred to the opportunity provided
by the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in 2008 for I-T firms
to work in tandem. The Prime Minister also emphasised the need
for intensive research and continuous innovation to sustain the
technological advantage.
Following is the
text of the Prime Minister’s speech on the occasion:
"I am happy
to participate in this unique event, which focuses on an area
of particular promise in India-China bilateral co-operation. It
seems specially appropriate to hold this function in Shanghai,
which is both a showcase of the economic transformation of China,
and a hub of its technological development.
We often say India
and China are ancient civilisations. Both our countries have experienced
colonial domination and external pressures in recent centuries.
We commenced our independent existence, not very long ago, as
poor and industrially backward countries. It should therefore
be a matter of pride that our two developing countries are counted
among the leaders in the cutting-edge technologies, which drive
today’s knowledge economy. This has enabled us to accelerate our
economic growth by compressing the intermediate stages in the
development process. Technological upgradation and innovation
is, therefore, a high priority area for India.
The Indian I.T.
industry – as we have just seen in the presentation – has been
a major success story in this endeavour. The market capitalisation
of the Indian software industry has climbed steeply from 4 billion
dollars in 1999 to about 50 billion dollars today. Our software
exports are about 10 billion dollars.
Apart from traditional
on-site software development, Indian companies have also ventured
into I.T.-enabled services like Call Centres, Medical transcription,
data digitisation, legal databases, and animation. More than 500
portals are being launched in India every month. Of 70 global
software companies with the highest certification for quality
control, 48 are Indian. One of our major I.T. firms has recently
crossed 1 billion dollars in total revenues, and at least two
other major firms are close to this impressive turnover figure.
We are also aware
of China’s impressive capabilities in information and communications
technologies. China is one of the world leaders in computer hardware.
The Chinese I.T. industry achieved a total volume of over 25 billion
dollars last year in hardware alone. What is perhaps less well
known is that China’s software industry has also been surging
ahead. China is the third-largest market in the world for personal
computers, and is expected to be in second position by 2005. By
that time, sales of personal computers in the country are expected
to reach 80 million.
China’s internet-enabled
population reached nearly 60 million persons last year. It is
worth remembering that this is more than the entire population
of several countries! The Dragon processor chip, China’s first
indigenously produced computer chip, was also a technological
achievement.
While our hardware
and communications infrastructure is also growing rapidly, we
have much to learn from China in this area.
In recent years,
Indian business and industry have been strongly exploring the
synergies with China in the knowledge-based technologies. An awareness
gap between the industries in the two countries appears to have
inhibited a more vigorous interaction. That is why events like
this need to be commended.
There are some obvious
areas of convergence of commercial interest between India and
China in this sector.
- It is self-evident that our
respective core competence in hardware and software provides
a natural ground for an effective alliance in the I.T. industry.
- The profiles of our respective
software industries are also complementary. While in China,
the predominant focus is on products, the Indian software
industry focuses more on contract services and solutions.
- The strong international brand
recognition of Indian IT firms is an asset that can enrich
an India-China IT partnership. The higher end of the value
chain is a niche that even multinational firms have not explored
in the Chinese market.
Both our countries
face the challenge of a ‘digital divide’ from regional imbalances
in access to technologies. India has launched an ambitious programme
to ensure ‘I.T. for all’ by 2008 with a major national campaign
for universalising I.T.-based education at all levels of the education
pyramid. We have conducted innovative experiments at the community
level using low cost computing, home networking solutions, more
efficient use of the internet bandwidth and e-marketing. With
a similar diversity of regional educational and social patterns,
China would also have collected experiences, which may be relevant
to us. A sharing of experiences in this important objective could
help to develop better strategies in both countries to bridge
the digital divide.
There is another
potential strategic gain from an India-China partnership in I.T.
We know that technological advantage can be sustained only with
intensive research and continuous innovation. If countries like
India and China were to concentrate on specific areas of their
technological advantage, they could benefit far more than by competing
across the spectrum. In combination, rather than in competition,
Indian and Chinese I.T. industries can be a potent force. This
is a principle, which has far wider application in South-South
co-operation.
The Olympic Games
in Beijing in 2008 could provide a good opportunity for Indian
and Chinese I.T. firms to work together. Our experience has shown
that in mega events like these, a substantial proportion of the
contracts awarded in the I.T. sector are actually sub-contracted
to Indian firms by contractors from the developed countries. Indian
and Chinese firms could instead join up to provide state-of-the
art solutions at cost effective prices, thereby also cutting out
the middlemen. We could even think of a joint institutional mechanism
between the two governments, which could see whether modalities
could be worked out for this.
India has a national
e-governance programme seeking to link grassroots public services
with those at the macro level. Here again, India and China can
share experiences in optimising our e-governance systems.
One of the main objectives
of my visit to China is to impart a fresh momentum to the comprehensive
bilateral co-operation which India and China are seeking to build.
The most significant decision in this direction was the agreement
by the two Prime Ministers to set up a Joint Study Group to recommend
to the governments concrete measures for boosting our trade and
economic co-operation over a short to medium term time frame.
If our economic co-operation is to break out of the present traditional
mould, knowledge-based technologies need to occupy a far more
prominent position in our economic interactions. I believe the
discussions today would illustrate the tremendous scope. The two
governments can only give policy and infrastructural support to
this endeavour. Indian and Chinese business and industry have
to take up this challenge."