Convergence Plus Journal

NEW DELHI -- "The state of the IT industry in India has been amply vindicated from what I've seen and heard over the last few days," said Stephen Timms, the Honorable ICT Minister, UK, while addressing an august gathering of NASSCOM members in the capital recently.

The Minister added that he was also very impressed by what he had seen and heard at Bangalore IT.com. He visited the offices of Infosys and Logica there. These are the two biggest ICT companies in India and the UK. Both have made substantial investments in one another's countries. He said that India is also one of the most important and growing sources of investment into the UK. Currently, there are over 350 Indian companies with operations in the UK.

Minister Timms said: "I've been very encouraged by the number of people who have told me over the last few days that either they've just set up an office in the UK or are in the point of setting up an office there. I can see the vibrancy of the links between us. There have been many, many new ventures in both directions. There is a great deal of scope for deepening and strengthening further the trading link between us. We both recognize that it is in our mutual interest that should continue and those ventures should be successful."

He noted this was actually the third consecutive year that a British minister bearing his title -- that is minister of state for e-commerce and competitiveness -- visited India. "These visits are a reflection of the strength of the relationship -- political and business -- between the UK and India. This January, PM Tony Blair visited and he and Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed the New Delhi Declaration that highlighted the partnership in trade. Of course, both countries realize the huge potential in bilateral trade, and particularly in the IT sector. I am here to take forward that agenda set out by the two PMs," he added.

The Minister stressed that the UK provides a modern, high-tech, investor-friendly environment for overseas companies and is an ideal base for from which to win business throughout the European Union (EU). That is increasingly important, because the EU is set to expand. "Pretty soon now, it will include more people. Once it has expanded, it will have more people than US and Japan put together -- it will become a very important market. UK is the ideal base from which to reach it," he pointed out.

Outlining the main purpose of his visit to India, that is, to promote the British ICT sector and to learn about the Indian sector as well, the Minister touched on the issue of where do India and the UK stand now. He said: "I would like to highlight some of the recent developments that give ground for optimism. The UK is one of the main destinations for IT investment. We have enabled a strongly competitive environment in the UK, encouraged the UK companies to invest in new technologies, and have consistently performed ahead of our European partners."

The software and services market grew by 5 percent last year in the UK, making it, for the first time ever, the biggest software and services market in Europe, worth over $30bn dollars. Analysts are predicting that growth will continue -- to about $40bn by 2004. Outsourcing and processing have grown most strongly.

Spotlighting some achievements, Minister Timms added: "Under PM Tony Blair's leadership, the UK government played its part in getting the regulatory framework right to enable British companies to develop successfully in the rapidly changing ICT world. We have the biggest e-commerce market in Europe -- close to 57bn pounds worth of sales over last year. Of those, 47bn pounds came from B2B and 10bn pounds from B2C. The past year has seen a 41 percent increase in adults purchasing online. Nearly 50 percent of the UK's households are now online. The penetration of Internet in households seemed to have plateaued last year. However, it has been again growing very strongly this year. Then, 95 percent of the UK's businesses are online. And three weeks ago, we celebrated our one-millionth broadband connection."

Commenting on corporate social responsibility, an issue close to his heart, the Minister said that when PM Blair visited India this January, he had made a keynote speech at the Infosys campus that had focused on the tragic events and consequences of September 11. However, he had also referred to the importance of corporate social responsibility. He made the point that good governance and democracy are not just right by themselves, but critical to the economic and political progress as well. "This area of corporate social responsibility is a key interest of mine," he said.

He highlighted the example of Infosys -- which has activities contributing to well being of communities. The Minister added: "Other business also increasingly see themselves as having a responsibility to contribute to the well being of their communities beyond their own direct, commercial interest. In the UK, we are seeing, more and more public bodies, voluntary sectors, etc., working in partnerships with large businesses to promote the well being of the local communities. Each one is doing it enthusiastically, as each one sees this as advancing its own key interests, as well as advancing the interests of the others. Businesses are also realizing that it is good for them. It also has benefit for companies -- by building the value of their brand, fostering loyalty among customers and motivating staff to work for them. Corporate social responsibility is also international in its focus, and not just national."

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