BANGALORE: The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) has written to Karnataka's IT and Biotechnology Minister D.B. Inamdar saying it was in the "process of identifying means by which we can further the creation of a working, business-to-business partnership". "Fairfax County and Bangalore seem ideally suited for a mutually beneficial business-to-business partnership," Gerald L. Gordon, president and CEO, FCEDA, has said. Fairfax is the technology hub of the East Coast. Says Horst Mehrlander, minister of economic affairs in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg: "Due to the great customers' potential in other countries it may be expected that on medium- and long-term, our enterprises will the reach the limits of their capacity. "For the solution of possible bottlenecks I think cooperation between Baden-Wurttemberg and Indian firms would be very desirable in the spirit of a policy with regard to the future. Primarily, I am thinking of cooperation in IT outsourcing," Mehrlander said. The FCEDA has as the first step decided to send a team for the BangaloreIT.Com 2003, Asia's biggest IT event, in November. "We will also be looking for other opportunities to create trade and investment in both directions," Gordon has said. Mehrlander has urged Inamdar to lead a delegation of medium sized enterprises in IT though there is potential in other areas including biotechnology and environmental technologies. "We haven't decided on any date, but we have informed them that a delegation of mid-sized companies would be visiting Baden-Wurttember later this year. This is a good sign for our IT industry and the talent that exists in Bangalore and Karnataka," Inamdar told IANS. "It is unusual in the IT sector. Fundamentally, a city to city or a state to state business partnership means opening of a window for the small and medium enterprises in both places," says R. Vishwanathan, secretary general of the Greater Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "This is clearly an indication that they want Indian talent to support them and it could be quite beneficial for our small and medium companies which cannot have large marketing teams like the big IT companies do."
Source: IANS