News : German IT innovations at the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum

German IT innovations at the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum

February 08, 2010

From 9 - 11 February, the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2010 in Mumbai brings together international experts to discuss the new face of the world economy and steps to reach the next level of growth. Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) – Germany’s foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency – will be presenting ICT innovations from Germany at the Forum.

Germany has consistently exerted a powerful influence on the world economy and has always been an attractive market for India. As Germany moves its focus from the so-called traditional markets of US and UK, it offers immense opportunity both for partnerships and as a lucrative market.

Accounting for 20 percent of the EU's GDP, Germany is Europe’s largest economy and the engine driving it. GTAI will have representatives on hand at this year’s NASSCOM Leadership Forum to guide investors looking to enter Europe’s largest market. Opportunities in Germany will be discussed at the country panel ‘Tackling Offshore Challenges in Germany’ on Wednesday, 10th February.

Participants at the country session will include Heinz-Paul Bonn, Vice President BITKOM (the apex body of the German IT industry), Dr. Wolfgang Messner, Principal, Capgemini, Krishnakumar Natarajan, CEO and Managing Director, MindTree Ltd. and Michael Pfeiffer, Managing Director, GTAI. The German delegation will also have members of SAP, Atos Origin, IBM, GUS Group, SQS AG, Osborne Clarke, DEG, WHU (a leading German MBA school) and others.

On the eve of the Forum, Richard Offermann, Director of Service Industries at GTAI said, “The ICT industry in Germany is highly attractive to investors. It is performing well despite the downturn and acts as a reliable motor of innovation. German and Indian IT companies are already strong partners. This year’s NASSCOM is an excellent forum for us to showcase the latest opportunities for further cooperation in leveraging projects with an offshore element.”

The ICT sector accounted for half of all Indian FDI projects in Germany over the six-year period from 2003 – 2008. Leading Indian ITES companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Mahindra Satyam, MindTree and many others have discovered Germany quite some time ago.

They are working successfully for large and medium German clients and have acquired businesses and parts of businesses in Germany over the last few years. At the same time, German IT companies such as SAP, T-Systems, SQS AG, ABAS AG and others have also had successful operations in India.

Germany is using its strong position in ICT innovation to boost future growth. The industry posted over 133 billion euros in revenue in 2008 and holds 19 percent of the European ICT market. To secure this position, Germany has boosted funding for research and development projects. The government’s High-Tech Strategy supports the ICT industry with over 1.5 billion euros reserved for ICT R&D projects. A pool of over 15 billion euros is additionally available for project grants and research funding to further promote innovation.

One market segment that is currently drawing attention is the so-called business process outsourcing and shared services centre (BPO-SSC) sector. With a nine percent annual growth rate, it has expanded in recent years to become one of Germany’s fastest growing ICT segments. As a result of Germany’s highly educated workforce and moderate wage costs, the sector is projecting a market volume of 16 billion euros by 2012. BPO-SSC opportunities will be one focus of this year’s presentations by Germany at NASSCOM.

GTAI is the foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organisation advises foreign companies looking to expand their business activities in the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to German companies that seek to enter foreign markets.