Some of the leading Information Technology companies of India have shown keen interest in recruiting Pakistani experts at their offices. Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) President Jehan Ara stated this, while addressing a news briefing after attending the annual conference of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) in India on Friday.
The P@SHA president, heading a 15-member delegation of IT and enabled Service (ITeS) companies from Pakistan, also visited other silicon cities during her nine-day visit to India.
She said that the Pakistani delegation received overwhelming response and many leading IT companies of India have shown keen interest in establishing development centres in Pakistan. There was a keenness to work with the Pakistani software and services sector, she added.
Jehan Ara said, "A couple of major obstacles were, however, identified by various associations of both the countries. Companies on both the sides are uncertain about the political climate and are seeking protection to potential investment in each others' countries," she added.
Although the Government of Pakistan offers industrial-friendly policies and allows 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI), there is some confusion as to whether this applies also on Indian companies.
During talks with Azeem Premji, Chairman, Wipro, India's largest IT company, Jehan Ara offered the company to open development centres in Pakistan.
Premji said that he would not only consider opening up development centres, but would keenly look at the technology transfer and HR development as well.
However, he said, he wanted both the governments to establish strong relations before he would invest in Pakistan.
Another major obstacle is the issuance of visa. "The business community needs to be able to move across the borders on a day's notice," the P@SHA president said. Both NASSCOM and P@SHA will lobby for grant of countrywide visas for the IT industry-related business community. Our industry is working on 24x7x365 time frames, she said.
In Bangalore, the members of the team visited the Infosys campus and met the chairman and chief mentor of Infosys, Narayan Murthy.
Jehan Ara said that during talks the Infosys showed its keenness to work with Pakistan. Other companies visited by the team included Mphasis BPO, vMoksha Technologies, MindTree Consulting, iFlex and Paprikaas Animation studios.
In Mumbai, the delegation held a meeting with the ICT Minister of India, Dayanidhi Maran. The team also met the Canadian and Malaysian companies who were attending the conference.
Some of the Pakistani companies held business meetings with their Indian counterparts on the sidelines of the conference. Agreements were signed between Arwen Tech (Pvt) Ltd of Karachi and Evolve Services of Delhi who are jointly bidding for the training of 1,000 call centre agents.
Arwen Tech also signed an agreement with Hewitt India for HR Skills assessment and strategy for training of call centres personnel. Another Karachi company, Immaculate Solutions, signed an agreement with IFlex Solutions of Bangalore. Compare, Delhi entered into a joint venture with Creative Chaos, Karachi to develop six web portals.
In Hyderabad, the delegation met the speaker of the Andhra Pardesh Legislative Assembly, provincial ministers of education and finance and the former chief minister of Andhra Pardesh, Chandarbabu Naidu.
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