Egyptian govt's incentives lure Indian IT cos

Despite the pressures of pricing and the slowdown on the Indian IT and ITES market, Indian IT companies seem to be expanding operations in Eypgt. Sources say that ITES companies like Aegis BPO, Firstsource and IBM Daksh who have clients in Egypt are also planning to set up operations there.

Here is a verbatim transcript of Kritika Saxena’s comments on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

It’s destination Eygpt for Indian IT and BPO companies. Located near Saudi Arabia, Egypt opens the doors to many Gulf and African nations. Many Indian IT companies are rushing to Eypgt and the ones that are already there are expanding operations rapidly.

Sources say that ITES companies like Aegis BPO, Firstsource and IBM Daksh who have clients in Egypt are also planning to set up operations there. Some are even planning to invest up to USD 80 million.

Why Egypt?

Milan Sheth, Partner - Technology, Ernst & Young said that Egypt has the combination of talent availability in terms of the incentives which the government or the industry associations are able to provide to the entrants. Egyta also has a time zone stroke closeness to the region they service, he added.

Wipro will be doubling its headcount from 50 to 110 in Egypt. Sources say that it may invest USD 5 million, which may be scaled up to USD 15 million in FY10.

Deepak Jain, VP, Wipro said, "The investment is more in terms of developing people and making them ready for the industry. Added to that, the government has promised investment to build up some more facilities over there. "

Analysts say that captive centers based in India also want to expand to Egypt. With attractive incentives from the government, is Eypgt the next big hub for the Indian IT sector.