Japan rolls out red carpet for Indian software exporters

Our eFE Bureau in New Delhi

In the backdrop of the US slowdown, Japan has pitched itself as a potentially lucrative alternate market for India’s software exports.
“Japan is one market, which India has yet to explore fully,” Japan’s ambassador to India, Mr Hirabayashi, said.

Currently, a mere 3.5 per cent of India’s software exports find their way into the Japanese market. Against this, US accounts for over 60 per cent of India’s exports.

Calling for a partnership between India and Japan, Mr Hirabayashi, said that Japanese strengths in the hardware sector could be complementary to India’s strengths in the software sector.

“Our two countries stand to gain enormously from optimally exploiting our complementary relationship and working together as partners,” he said.

Giving tips for success in the Japanese market, he said that familiarity with the Japanese language and understanding of the country’s culture and markets are necessary to succeed.

“The initial focus should be on growth rather than profitability,” he said at a seminar on “Competitiveness of information technology and telecom industry: Learning from Indian and Japanese experiences” organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

Mr Hirabayashi also welcomed the Japan business initiatives of India’s leading IT companies like Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys.

Speaking earlier, the chairman of FICCI’s telecom committee, Mr Rajan Bharti Mittal said that India has lagged behind in two vital segments of the information services industry — hardware and communications.

Mr Mittal suggested that Japanese industry should think of using India as a base for software requirements and Indian industry could also consider using Japan as a base for hardware expertise in critical areas such as telecom and information technology.