The Hindu Business Line : `Israel cos keen to tap Indian talent pool'

THE Israeli Communications Minister, Mr Uri Olenik, has said that the Israeli information technology and telecom companies are scouting for strategic alliances with Indian companies and several IT companies are firming up plans to establish development centres in India.

Mr Olenik, who was in Hyderabad to take part in the Second Asian IT Ministers' conference, told Business Line that Israel's large IT companies such as Amdex and Ness are keen to leverage the Indian talent pool for their global operations.

The Formula group, yet another software company, is looking at the Indian market. VocalTec has partnered with Data Access to provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)-based long distance services.

Israel has traditionally been a large R&D base for information technology and telecom companies. and several products and technologies developed there. For instance, Motorola's next generation processors are designed and developed in Israel. After the recent visit by the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, and a large industrial delegation, "We foresee a win-win situation for both Israel and Indian companies through strategic partnerships," he said.

"I was talking to Reliance President, who mentioned that the company has partnership with about 15 Israeli companies in several areas of applications.

For instance, companies like Gilat, who are very strong in the areas of rural telecommunications, are partnering with Indian telecom operators for V-Sat networks," he said to illustrate the possibility of telcos partnering Indian companies.

Highlighting the progress made by the Israeli communications industry, Mr Olenik said that the country was amongst the highest networked in the world with 95 per cent of the households having telephone connectivity, both fixed and mobile, 75 per cent of the households have cable TV and 68 per cent digital multi-channel TV. Significantly, 34 per cent of the Israeli households have broadband connectivity, which is next only to that of South Korea.

"We expect more trade delegations between the two countries covering many areas. For instance, the Telecom Israel 2004, to be held in Tel Aviv in November 8-11, 2004, will serve as an ideal platform for many Indian and Israel companies to forge strategic ties. A large contingent of Indian companies headed by the Indian Communications Minister is set to come and attend this mega event. The Israeli telecom is one of the most advanced in the global market," he said.

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