THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to tap the opportunities for small and medium IT firms of Kerala in the Gulf countries, the state government and Group of Technology Companies (GTech) will chalk out a joint strategy. IT secretary M. Sivasankar, who is leading a delegation to GITEX Technology Week in Dubai, said they could take a leaf out of joint efforts of the public and private sectors for the success of tourism industry in the state.
“Kerala Tourism's success in getting international attraction could be attributed to the joint efforts by leveraging each other's strengths. Such a model has to be replicated in the IT industry to catalyse the growth to the next level,” he said. Kerala and most countries in the Middle East region, he said, are natural partners. “We should leverage the relationship with TECOM, in Dubai, and Smart City - Kochi, for the benefit of UAE and Kerala,” said a statement from GTech quoting Mr Sivasankar.
He said many small and medium companies face different constraints like funding issues to explore global markets. To address this, the government will consider funding support. As many as twenty eight IT companies from the state are participating in the five-day international event. GTech secretary Vijay Kumar P. and chief executive officer Renjith Ramanujam were leading the discussions.
GTech business focus group head Rafeek K. Mohammed, who is also a part of the delegation, said that the current economic environment in the Gulf presents tremendous opportunities for SMEs in Kerala. “Corporates are moving from expensive solutions provided by large conglomerates to cost effective ones offered by SMEs. If our companies can deliver economic and scalable solutions, there will be takers,” he said.
