China wants Indian IT companies in its new hi-tech city
China wants Indian IT companies to open shop in a sprawling techcity being built in one of its least developed regions, in a move that reflects the effort to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries at state levels.
Cooperation between Indian states and Chinese provinces was in sharp focus during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China earlier this month.
Guizhou in southwest China is emerging as a base for cloud computing and big data — and they want Indian software giants such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro to be part of it.
Representatives from more than two dozen Indian companies, their Chinese counterparts, the Confederation of Indian Industry and government officials recently got together at the Guian New Area (GNA) city to work on a blueprint for cooperation.
One Indian company has already made the move: earlier this year NIIT and GNA signed an MoU to offer programmes in newage IT, with focus on Big Data.
“India is one of the leading countries in IT. There is lot of space to cooperate...This could be the starting point for a new development,” Wang Jianping, vice-governor of Guizhou province, said at the gathering.
Namgya Khampa, economic counsellor at the Indian embassy in Beijing, said: “...IT has long been acknowledged as a particularly promising area for increasing cooperation. The presence of many of our leading IT companies here today is a positive sign.”
Top officials from Indian IT companies appeared enthusiastic but cautious. “IT development in the GNA has the financial resources, government support and required infrastructure. Big data prospects look bright, but we have to now look at details,” said Sujit Chatterjee, China head, Tata Consultancy Services.
Another company wondered whether it would be a better idea for Chinese IT companies to cooperate with India – in India.