Posted on 11 Sep 2008
Even with expectations of a global slowdown, India and China will still post robust growth, ranging from 8% to 10%.
S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO and managing director of Infosys Technologies Ltd, said the IT industry was growing and Infosys was still adding to its workforce.
"This year, we are projected to hire 25,000 and we can still add 20% to 30% over the next several years," he told a session on "India takes flight" at the Forbes Global CEO conference yesterday.
Its corporate university has the capacity to train 10,000 people and in the last one year, Infosys had spent over US$100mil on training and education.
"India is still the major location for IT services and business process outsourcing," he said.
This is bolstered by factors such as the ability to scale up, maturity of companies, government support and the presence of large world-class companies.
Besides its major North American market, Infosys is also targeting new markets in China, the Middle East, eastern Europe, Mexico and Latin America.
The manufacturing sector had experienced a slowdown lately, but India had potential for big demand, said another panellist Saijan Jindal, vice chairman and managing director of JSW Steel Ltd.
Comparing India's steel and cement production with that of China, he said India had a catch-up game to play, especially leading up to developed nation status by 2020.
"So we have to create capacities, despite this temporary blip in investments, with new commitments being affected by high interest rates," said Saijan.
"There is pressure in India, especially on the manufacturing sector, but the slight slowdown should only last one to 1? years."
Even with slowdown in the second half of this year and first half of next year, China was still expected to register 8% to 9% economic growth, said Lin Li, chairman of Shenzhen Llye Group Co.
"The demand for financing is still very great," said Liang Xinjun, vice chairman and president of Fosun International.
"The securities and capital markets are still in the initial stages although we are going through some macro adjustments now with concerns over fast growth, liquidity and losses due to renminbi valuation."
Demand for housing in China was still on the rise, said Chao Teng Hsiung, chairman of Farglory Land Development.
"I am optimistic of the future for real estate here, with high levels of savings and funding available. Moreover, property investment is seen as less risky than equities."
