Site visit to Indian software company an ‘awe-inspiring experience’

“I felt like Alice in Wonderland,” recalls Farida Rahman, who has recently returned from a training programme in Bangalore, India, which aims to help businesses become more competitive. “It was an awe-inspiring experience to see what seven people could achieve.”

The team of seven she is referring to are the founders of Infosys Technologies Ltd, the software exporter which was set up with US$250 back in 1981 and is now worth over US$4 billion.

Ms Rahman, Director of Bangladesh Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was one of 60 participants from 33 Commonwealth countries who took part in the programme - a project between the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Export-Import Bank of India and the Central Bank of India. Participants heard from speakers brought in from all over the world to share their experiences and past successes. They also went on a number of company site visits, of which the Infosys 300-acre (121 hectares) campus was one.

“The site was absolutely huge, like a university campus,” says Ms Rahman. “The company is bubbling with energy and so full of life. This infectious enthusiasm is something I would like to inject in my own business.”

As well as entrepreneurs like Ms Rahman, senior government officials from across the Commonwealth also took part, one of whom is Dr Jerrol Thompson, Minister for Telecommunications, Science, Technology and Industry in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Caribbean country once had the largest privately owned coconut plantation in the world, and Dr Thompson is looking at ways to develop this for the benefit of the nation.

In Bangalore he met an entrepreneur from Solomon Islands who crushes coconuts to make natural oils, which is then exported abroad, and also a representative from Industree Craft, a non-profit organisation that helps young artisans set up their own businesses. Dr Thompson held substantial discussions on everything from the equipment used to the potential markets available for natural fibre products. He also spoke with representatives from the Indian Government, who “expressed a willingness to help us grow and develop our coconut coir fibre and oil industry”.

“This meeting gave me and others an opportunity to make a wealth of contacts throughout the world,” he explained.

“We were also exposed to how other businesses were coping with the global economic crisis, which I can take back to St Vincent.”

Roshan Kumar Seebaluck is the Team Leader of the European Commission's Regional Management Office in the Eastern Caribbean implementing an Information and Communications Technology Incubator Programme in Dominica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines. He brought a small delegation with him from these three Caribbean countries to the programme in India.

“The one overarching lesson these officials took away with them was the strong work ethic that pervades Infosys,” he said. “They could not help but be bowled over by commitment and dedication from staff at that company. This experience has given them a lot of confidence, which they are all now transferring to their own businesses.”

Secretariat Links:

• Country Profile: India
• Economic Development