No direct impact of Egypt crisis on software exports: Som Mittal

Our Bureau Updated - February 08, 2011 at 12:23 AM.

07/02/2011 MUMBAI: (from left) Mr. Som Mittal, President, Nasscom along with Mr. Harish Manglik, Chairman, Nasscom and Mr. Rajendra Pawar, Vice Chairman at a press conference held in Mumbai on February 7, 2011. Photo: Paul Noronha

Software association Nasscom said on Monday that crisis in Egypt will not have any direct fallout on the Indian IT exports in the short term, given that the industry' exposure to non-US and non Europe market is relatively small.

But the Nasscom President, Mr Som Mittal, said that the impact is more on business sentiments and also “unfortunate” as Egypt is aspiring to position itself as a sourcing destination.

“Business spanning Continental Europe, the UK and the US is almost 90 per cent for the industry and the rest of the world, including Latin America, Africa, Far East and Middle East, forms the balance 10 per cent. So, there is not much of direct impact due to Egypt issue,” Mr Mittal said at a conference to announce the upcoming India Leadership Forum 2011 event.

Egypt has been positioning itself as a sourcing destination for IT companies that are looking to address West Asia and North Africa region. “We hope that the crisis settles down soon,” he said.

The three-day India Leadership Forum, which starts in Mumbai tomorrow, will bring together over 150 speakers and over 1,600 delegates from across 32 countries. It comes at a time when the Indian IT and BPO industry, impacted by inevitable shifts in business environment, is viewing the decade ahead with cautious optimism and fleshing out fresh strategies.

While the global economic environment continues to be uncertain, businesses recognise that technology is the enabler for cost efficiency, transformation and new product development. This has led to an increase in global sourcing of IT and BPO, with India increasing its share in the overall market (55 per cent in 2010).

In this backdrop, India Leadership Forum 2011 will look at key trends and issues for the current environment as well as the long-term impact. As it is, the Indian IT industry is aspiring for three-fold increase in export turnover to gross revenue of $175 billion by 2020. The domestic market is expected to grow four-fold to $50 billion by 2020.

Over the next three days, industry top brass and leading experts will converge to discuss issues such as demographic shifts and its impact on growth of new sectors (healthcare), markets (BRIC, Japan, Germany) and service lines; creation of innovative solutions (especially for developing markets such as India) and emergence of newer business models.

Other aspects that would be discussed in various tracks and sessions include collaboration between countries, customer-vendor, and government-industry- society.

> moumita@thehindu.co.in

Published on February 7, 2011 17:34