KOCHI: Singapore-based MariApps Marine Solutions Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the first company in SmartCity Kochi, inaugurated its facilty at SCK on Friday. Norbert Aschmann, CEO, BSM Group performed the inauguration at a function attended by officials and staff members of MariApps and SCK. According to the Chief Executive, MariApps-- with presence in Cyprus, Singapore and India and which offers IT solutions to shipping and maritime industry worldwide--chose SmartCity Kochi because it offered the most modern facilities to meet the company’s growing needs.
“We believe SmartCity would motivate the employees more and thereby increase their productivity,” he said. Aschmann also expressed the hope that SCK will give a boost to Kerala’s IT sector. The company, which started its Indian operations in Kerala in 2010 with 40 employees, presently has 140 employees in its Kochi office. Commenting on the company’s expansion plans, Sankar V Ragavan, CEO Mari- Apps said, “We are planning to increase the number of employees in Kerala by 20-30 per cent every year.” Ragavan added that the company was expanding its operations in Kerala because of the availability of quality manpower, apart from the low levels of attrition. BSM, an integrated maritime solutions provider, have 1,500 employees in shore and 16,000-17,000 on board.
In the pipeline
Another Singaporebased IT company, Singnet Solutions, will also open its office in the first week of June in the presence of a leading delegation from Singapore, including senior officials from various government departments of the city state.