The Hindu Business Line : Wales agency touts near-shoring, to open office here

COUNTERING the anti-outsourcing lobby, the Wales Development Agency (WDA) plans to woo Indian IT firms aggressively with the idea of setting up near-shore centres at Cardiff.

According to Mr Andrew Davis, Executive Vice-President, WDA-Asia Pacific, the near-shore concept would help reduce resentment against outsourcing software projects to India.

Software firms such as Logica CMG already have near shore centres at Wales and two more Indian firms are set to establish small (near shore) centres over the coming months.

"This would help Indian firms to bag more contracts and near-shoring will happen more, especially in areas such as business process outsourcing where companies in the UK are looking to outsource more work (to India). So Indian companies can set up base in the UK by hiring local staff and creating jobs for the local population," Mr Davis said.

Positioning software companies with a "Gateway to Europe" pitch, WDA offers a $140 million data centre opened by British Telecom , with proximity to London, financial assistance and a cost-effective labour force. "It's not cheaper but certainly 30-40 per cent more cost-effective and 60 per cent of Wales's business comes from firms who have re-invested," Mr Davis added.

According to Nasscom, the software export sector logged a revenue of Rs 47,500 crore during 2002-03, a jump of around 30 per cent, compared to the previous year. While the US accounts for nearly 65 per cent of the business, Europe is slowly gaining as Indian firms are consciously seeking work outside the US.

The thrust would be on small and medium business firms that could use WDA to explore the European market and large IT firms for setting up near-shore centres. WDA received 100 business enquiries last year and expects to tap the Indian IT industry in a "big way."

WDA will officially commence its Indian operations with the forthcoming launch of its office at Bangalore. Other areas WDA seeks to promote are aerospace, unmanned air vehicles, biotechnology and collaborative research with Wales's universities.