The government of Kerala and the Group of Technology Companies (GTech), the industry body of IT/ITeS firms in the State, have launched efforts to leverage the relationship between Tecom, Dubai, and Smart City, Kochi, to reach out to the Middle East market.
Tecom is the majority stakeholder in Smart City.
An IT delegation from Kerala, which visited the Gitex Technology Week in Dubai last week, decided to devise a new strategy to help IT companies in the State penetrate deeper into the Middle East markets and serve governments in the region with special benefits.
Making the announcement, M. Sivasankar, Secretary, IT, said, “Kerala and most countries in the Middle East are natural partners. We should leverage the relationship between Tecom and Smart City to benefit the United Arab Emirates and Kerala.”
Mr. Sivasankar said government, governmental agencies, or the industry body could act as a guarantor to ensure timely delivery of e-governance projects and boost the confidence of customers.
GTech feels that the current economic environment in the Gulf countries presents huge opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Kerala. “Corporates are moving to cost-effective solutions offered by SMEs. If our companies can deliver economic and scaleable solutions, there will be takers,” says Rafeek K. Mohammed, Head, Business Focus Group, GTech.
The delegation held discussions with Adebayo Shittu, Federal Minister for Information and Communications, Nigeria, and also representatives of the Sharjah government. As many as 28 IT companies from Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode participated in the five-day Gitex Technology Week.
