THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The oil crisis in the Gulf region has cast a long shadow over Kerala’s economy. But small and medium IT companies in the state have found a sliver of hope - an opportunity to tap into the $212 billion West Asian IT market which is looking for ways to cut cost to manage fiscal deficits.
Group of Technology Companies (GTech), the industry body of IT companies in Kerala, attended the annual GITEX Technology Week in Dubai and assessed that the current economic environment in Gulf countries presented huge opportunities for SMEs in the state.“Corporates are moving from expensive solutions provided by large conglomerates to cost-effective steps offered by SMEs. If our companies are able to deliver economic and scaleable solutions, there will be takers,” said Rafeek K Mohammed, CEO of PIT Solutions.
Banking, e-governance, oil and gas, retail and defence are some of the major sectors the IT companies in the state are looking to gain entry. “Offshoring of banking sector has started recently. We expect more sectors will be opened for state-based IT companies. The biggest advantage we have is that the companies and government in UAE have experience working with Keralites,” said Vijay Kumar CEO of Testhouse in Technopark. The IT companies are aiming for the next financial year to engage more with Gulf companies. According to Vijay, GTech would make a comprehensive market understanding before the January.
The strategy to support small and medium companies in the state and help them tap into the West Asia markets more effectively will be jointly prepared by the state government and GTech.
Government support
The IT industry stands to benefit from the partnership between state government and the United Arab Emirates Government in the SmartCity project at Kochi which is expected to be completed by 2020.
“Kerala and most countries in the West Asia region are natural partners. We should leverage the relationship with TECOM in Dubai, and SmartCity - Kochi - to benefit the UAE and Kerala,” said Secretary for Information Technology, M Sivasankar who led the IT delegation that attended GITEX. “Often small and medium companies face fund constraints while trying to make innovative products. To address this issue apart from the buyer and the company getting into a co-ownership model, the government should also consider a fund to support companies that create prototypes with market potential,” he said.
The IT Secretary is a member of the three-member committee appointed by the government to sort out the pending issues of the SmartCity project. Hrishikesh Nair, chief executive officer of Technopark and Infopark, said the state was ready in both infrastructure and technology to meet any future demands. He said many countries have started seeing the state as a technology partner. However, some industry experts felt that the Gulf slowdown would have a negative impact on IT industry. “SMEs typically get projects in mobility, gaming etc. During slowdown, these not-so-essential spends will be curtailed. Offshoring opportunities have not yet come because currency exchange rates are not attractive,” said Joseph C Mathew, who served as IT adviser to former Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.