ICT firms urged to tap export options in India

In the face of the global slowdown, ICT companies must take advantage of export opportunities in India, where GDP is expected to grow by seven per cent in the coming year, a top Dubai Internet City official said.

Malek Al Malek, Executive Director of DIC, said: "In times where economic growth is slower, many of our business partners may want to know where their growth opportunities lie. Our partnership with the Dubai Export Development Corporation is an important way of creating a forum to bring together ICT companies that are keen to take advantage of export opportunities in India – a country whose economy has been steadily growing for two decades."

Dubai Internet City, a member of Tecom investments, along with Dubai Export Development Corporation (DEDC) hosted its first information session encouraging companies in the free zone to explore emerging opportunities in ICT in India. The event was targeted at DIC's business partners in the free zone to provide exporters with services enabling expansion into foreign markets. Thirty senior level members and representatives from the DIC business community along with the DEDC delegates attended the event.

Following a five-year cooperation agreement, signed in September last year, both DIC and the DEDC formed a joint management committee to assist companies at DIC to facilitate trade and export services in India's strong ICT market. Driven mainly by the manufacturing sector the growth is attributed to a lot of business happening overseas.

Eng Saed Al Awadi, CEO of Dubai Export Development Trade Corporation said: "The current economic environment will impact export trade activities globally but we believe that given India's robust growth over the past decade, the economy is resilient enough to even bring back investors that previously withdrew their businesses from the market. We look forward to working closely with DIC where we can assist their business partners into India's ICT market and identify the areas where there are most business opportunities."

DIC's partnership with DEDC will look towards raising export opportunity awareness in Dubai, while providing Dubai companies with a number of services including market assessments and recommendations on markets and sectors they would like to export to. DEDC will also provide information on export credit information insurance.

Al Malek said: "DIC has played an active role in developing the regional ICT industry and we hope that through our partnership with the DEDC, we can encourage our business partners at DIC to continue to grow by entering profitable markets like India, while enhancing Dubai's position as a strong global trade partner."

IT industry figures reveal there are 40m internet users in India with an expected end-user spend of $110 billion (Dh404bn) by 2012.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.