NASSCOM builds up support for outsourcing

KOLKATA: Even as it has been busy underplaying US presidential nominee Barack Obama's against outsourcing, NASSCOM has also been actively drumming up support on the issue by lobbying with the aides of the Democratic Party's aspirant for the White House.

"NASSCOM has been holding meetings for quite some time with the aides of both the Democratic (Obama) and Republican (John McCain) nominees since they play important roles in shaping policies, and if our discussions are anything to go by, there is no cause for worry on the outsourcing front," NASSCOM V-P (global trade development) Ameet Nivsarkar said.

"Four such interactions have been held in the past one-and-a-half years. In fact, we had even held talks with the aides of Senator Hillary Clinton on this topic earlier as we were not sure then as who would finally become the Democratic Party's candidate for the US presidential elections," he added.

Nivsarkar - NASSCOM'S pointman on international affairs - said his organisation has also been working closely with US lobbying institutions, industry bodies and public relations outfits to ensure that the correct message about India gets across to those who matter. He added that one should not read too much into the campaign speeches of either McCain or Obama because a lot of things get said during an election year to appeal to a particular target audience.

Nivsarkar - who was in the city for a meeting with local IT companies - said NASSCOM is keen to develop greater links with Japan, Germany, France and Scandinavian countries. "Japan accounts for just 3% of our exports. This situation clearly needs to change. We are trying to examine the issues which are coming in the way and would work together with government to remove these obstacles," he added.

The US and UK make up 80% of India's software exports, with the US alone accounting for about 61%. "The US will always remain the most important country for us, but growing other markets will hedge the industry to some extent against recession in any one part of the globe," he said.