The Hindu Business Line : Target $200-b software exports by 2010: Kalam

`WEST BENGAL WAKES UP': The President of India, Mr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, with (from left) the Nasscom President, Mr Kiran Karnik; the Governor of West Bengal, Mr Gopal Krishna Gandhi; the West Bengal Minister for IT, Mr Debesh Das; the Nasscom Chairman, Mr Ramalinga Raju, at Infocom 2006 in Kolkata on Wednesday. - A Roy Chowdhury

Kolkata , Dec. 6

With West Bengal waking up to the potential of ICT and bringing niche capability in the Indian market, the country's software exports should be pegged higher at $200 billion by 2010 as against the earlier projection of $100 billion, according to the President, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Delivering the inaugural address at the Infocom 2006 Conference and Exhibition here on Wednesday, Mr Kalam said that, even before West Bengal had appeared on the ICT radar screen, the eastern neighbours of India, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Korea, had made phenomenal progress to make themselves synonymous with the term Asian Tigers. Indian ICT export projections were made without taking into account the possibility of "Bengal Tigers entering the field of ICT with a roar. Now that West Bengal has woken up, we are all waiting to make the dream of $200 billion by 2010 a reality by innovating to differentiate," he said.

Dwelling on his chosen theme of "Innovate to Integrate," Mr Kalam said it was technology that empowered economic development. He spoke of the need for continuous innovations through creativity in a knowledge society. Stating that competitiveness was the common driving factor for the developed and developing nations, he said quality of the product, cost-competitiveness and just-in-time marketing were key elements of competitiveness. In this regard, he likened technology to a "non-linear tool available to humanity, which can affect fundamental changes in the ground rules of economic competitiveness."

Mr Kalam presented a strong case for making available bandwidth to all Indians with a view to bridging the "perceived divide." He said India has missed the "micro electronic bus" and could ill afford to miss developments in the arena of nano technology. "If we take proper investment decisions, we can definitely aspire to become leaders in nano technology products, especially in the nano electronics area which is having a market potential of $300 billion."

Other suggestions offered by the President included the promotion of the BPO sector in Tier II cities and establishing joint ventures in countries such as the Philippines and Korea, where the infrastructure was already there and the cost of operations was also low. "This will enable servicing of large number of customers," he said.

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