Invest Northern Ireland appoints Vishal Rao as its India VP

By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 23 December 2008, 20:12 IST
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Mumbai: Invest Northern Ireland, the agency responsible for economic development in Northern Ireland - one of the four constituent countries within the United Kingdom, has appointed Vishal Rao as Vice President, Business Development, for its Indian office. With experience in sales and market research, Vishal will take the responsibility of creating more awareness about Northern Ireland's inherent strengths amongst Indian IT and ITeS businesses. Vishal will be based in Mumbai, but covering all of India, and will report to Barry Clarke, Senior Vice President, Invest Northern Ireland, India. The appointment of Vishal is part of Invest Northern Ireland's ongoing strategy to strengthen its presence in India. "We welcome Vishal to the global team of Invest Northern Ireland. He brings necessary understanding of the Indian IT and ITeS sector by the virtue of his work experience with local companies. We are confident that with Vishal on board we will be able to deliver more suitable solutions to Indian companies who have set their eyes on Europe," said Barry Clarke. Speaking on the occasion Vishal Rao said, "The current economic situation demands companies to be more prudent with their global expansion plans. World-class infrastructure, abundance of talent, competitive costs and more importantly, the support of the government has made Northern Ireland one of the most suitable near-shore destinations in Europe for Indian and U.S. companies. I am really excited to join Invest Northern Ireland at this important juncture and their focus on providing ongoing support for the growth of projects, irrespective of size, shows a real commitment to international investors, 80 percent of which have re-invested since their first footprint in Northern Ireland.