Paris:

Let me describe about the scene in France when it comes to assigning offshore development work to India. We often need to explain to the French people about business process outsourcing (BPO) and offshore development and the multifarious possibilities India can offer in these fields, and how the French can really benefit from IT-savvy Indians.

But there is a snag. The French are afraid of assigning IT project works to a country like India because they think if they do so, the world might look at them as an IT-incompetent nation. That''s exactly the reason why India''s contribution to France''s IT sector is almost zero per cent.

Also, there is a strong trade union movement against ''offshore development.'' Their contention being, French entrepreneurs should not outsource their work from countries like India. If that happens, they claim, French engineers would lose their jobs. French companies are really afraid of these trade unions. This has to change.

Most professionals in this country, however, feel that French companies need to carefully study the market, the advantage and the drawbacks of outsourcing in house; this, they have to do if France needs to work with India.

In 2001, it took me six months to get my first outsourcing work (for a French entrepreneur) done in the Internet service provider (ISP) space. The entrepreneur wanted a very competitive price on a website builder, but my Indian company wanted to license it from France. Finally we made a deal for a good price, and both the parties are happy today.

Why I mentioned the above incident is because, we often need to push, help and advise French companies to outsource their work from India. These days Indian companies are in touch with agents like me to take care of their brand image and media publicity in France.

I am sure that slowly France will be get used to working with India. It will take time, but India will be a great partner for France, I am sure. Ultimately, the quality of the work done and the knowledge in IT are the key aspects to forge a great tie-up in this field of ever-expanding technology.

Only a very few companies like Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services can afford to have offices in Paris. What would the others do? For them the ideal solution is to find an agent or a partner.

If Indian companies get in touch with French marketing people or agents, the firms will succeed. They can also reap in benefits compared to other offshore development countries like Russia or China. During my last trip to India in January 2003, I met people at Nasscom. My intention was to see what strategy they have formalised for the French market. And I was surprised to discover that France was not in their priority list. I hope this attitude would change and they would find France an attractive IT destination.

Since the last two years I have been asking the Indian embassy in Paris to organise a convention on Indian IT workforce. And I am really glad that they have finally accepted to conduct one on 21 May 2003, along with the Chamber of Commerce, Paris. There would be a seminar on ''Business Opportunities Between India and France in IT,'' and companies, including Wipro and Infosys, are expected to attend the meet.

See you there.

Goldstein, who works for Vsplash Techworks, is an agent in France for Indian IT companies. He can be contacted at nicolas@vsplash.com