Envoy vows to initiate Cebu-India trade links

Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Rajeet Mitter has vowed to link the Cebu business community with the large Indian business organizations to advance trade and commerce relations between Cebu and the big cities in India.

Mitter was in Cebu early this week to meet with the officers of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) led by president Edward Gaisano, to explore opportunities in Cebu, especially that it is positioning as the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) center in the Philippines.

The Ambassador promised to facilitate series of trade delegations to Cebu, especially during the Cebu Business Month (CBM 2008), and that signing of a sister-hood agreement with CCCI and large business organization in major cities in India, like Bangalore, among others will take in place.

According to Mitter, Cebu has become a well-known site for IT and BPO expansion in India, more so, that large IT companies there like WiPro and InfoSis have already established operations here.

The CBM 2008 which will highlight the three industries tourism, ICT, and entrepreneurship will expect good number of delegation from India, specifically the “heavy-weight” IT companies there.

“I will personally recommend CBM to the NASSCOM [National Association of Software and Services Companies],” the Indian Ambassador said.

“I’m encouraging them [India] to come to Cebu,” said the Ambassador, as the environment is still inviting, unlike the “overpopulated” Manila.

Ambassador Mitter believes that Cebu’s IT and BPO industries is going to take the world’s attention and that it will “boom” rapidly.

The Ambassador’s visit to Cebu early this week, was his second time after the ASEAN Summit. He said during the ASEAN Summit, he saw the big potential of Cebu, especially as investment site for big-ticket IT and BPO companies.

Aside from WiPro, Mitter mentioned the good performance of Innodata, which is also one of the biggest BPO companies in India.

Apart from IT and BPO, the Ambassador said Cebu and India could forge a stronger trade partnership in other industries, like in mining, pharmaceutical, engineering consultancy, construction works, among others.

Significantly, he stressed that the Indian Embassy to the Philippines, is now getting more inquiries about Cebu from big IT and BPO companies in India.

“There are still a lot of companies in the pipeline,” he said referring to interested IT and BPO firms that are planning to locate in Cebu soon.

If the stronger trade relations were to be established soon, especially with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce, Cebu could take advantage intensely of India’s advancement in the IT and BPO sectors.

Earlier, Kiran Karnik of NASSCOM encouraged a collaboration move between Philippines and his country to strengthen both countries’ niche in ICT.

The Indian IT player, Karnik stressed that the Philippines could take advantage of the US$17 billion IT enabled services market, thus immediate collaboration is highly encouraged.

Karnik mentioned specific steps that both countries could start working together such as formulating a framework on how companies in both countries get together and work in synergy.