IT Minister Heads Kerala Delegation To Gitex 2002 - Announces Highest Priority to Developing Business Relationships with IT Companies in the GCC Region

Information Technology & Industries Minister Mr PK Kunhalikutty will head a strong Kerala delegation to Gitex 2002, reflecting Kerala's growing interest in the GCC region.

Among the top-level members of the Kerala delegation are Mr Rajiv Vasudevan, Chief Executive Officer of Technopark, as well as representatives from leading IT companies in Kerala.

"Kerala and the Arabian Gulf are traditional trading partners and allies. Our ties go back a long time. Now, we are building new equations on the strength of Kerala's unmatched strengths in IT. GCC-based IT companies as well as corporate groups have a great deal to gain through outsourcing from and setting up offshore development centres in Kerala. We are discussing with Non Resident Indians, based in the GCC, for setting up IT and ITES companies in Kerala. A special 'Kerala-GCC Package' is being tailor-made to attract GCC-based companies and IT professionals to establish a presence in Kerala," said Minister Kunhalikutty.

Kerala is exploring the possibility of strategic alliances with business parks and corporate groups, in the GCC region, for evolving common strategies, initiatives and partnerships at the global level. Already, relationships are evolving in other markets such as China between Kerala's Technopark and China's leading technology parks: Shanghai Pudong Software Park and Beijing Shongguancum Software Park.

According to Minister Kunhalikutty "Kerala is the ideal location in India for establishing IT companies. Authoritative studies, the latest one being from Nasscom, have placed Kerala among the 'Top-Three Indian Destinations For IT Investors'. We have achieved 100% digital connectivity with optic fibre cable linkage to the national internet backbone, along with bandwidth of 15 GBPS from two submarine cable landings in Kerala. We have the distinction of the highest technology diffusion index. Besides India's finest IT park- Technopark at Thiruvananthapuram- we also have the Kinfra Export Promotion Park in Kochi, Cochin Special Economic Zone, Kinfra IT Park offering a range of ideal environments for IT investors".

"What is most encouraging as far as our Technopark at Thiruvananthapuram is concerned is the swift growth of businesses here… business that have growth from sub-10 employees to large entities with teams of over 500 professionals. This is possible only due to the unique enabling environment that Technopark offers. Many Gulf-based companies have set up presence here and are flourishing," said Mr. Kunhalikutty.

TheTechnopark Pavilion at Gitex will showcase the relative advantages of Kerala - the emerging IT investment destination of India, as well as the capabilities of the IT companies within Technopark. Technopark companies span the entire spectrum of software development, from embedded systems to legacy system migration to telecom solutions, financial services solutions, etc., and includes 5 CMM Level 5 companies, 3 CMM Level 3 companies, and over 10 ISO 9000 certified companies. We are glad to be at Gitex 2002 to build business relationships with GCC based companies" added Mr. Rajiv Vasudevan, CEO, Technopark.


About Technopark

Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram is India's first technology park and among the two largest IT parks in the country today. Technopark is an autonomous society promoted by the Government of Kerala. Spread over 156 acres, and about 1.5 m. sq.ft. of built-up space, it hosts over 55 IT and ITES companies, including 4 CMM Level 5, 2 CMM Level 3 and several ISO 9000 certified companies. Technopark is the IT hub of the State of Kerala, and based in Thiruvananthapuram which can rightfully claim to be the knowledge capital of the region. Technopark provides world class, robust and failsafe infrastructure, meeting global standards to IT companies. More importantly, Technopark's vision is to provide a holistic enabling environment to make knowledge industry


For more information, email response@technopark.org. You can also call us at +91-471-2700222.