Building business ties
The business delegation from Gtechgroup of technology companies from Kerala, comprising 14 IT companies, are on a visit to New Zealand to seek new avenues for investment, business expansion, and building the client base. Their visit to Auckland saw them actively participate in business sessions hosted by ITA (Indian Trade Alliance) and INZBC (India New Zealand Business council). Indian Weekender spoke to the CEO of Gtech group of technology companies, Renjith Ramanujam, who is one of the main think-tanks of the group. He is attached to the group for more than four years now and is one of the primary reasons for these companies to visit New Zealand. Renjith spoke to us on various issues ranging from business opportunities in New Zealand to bureaucracy in India.
IWK: How do you sum up the entire visit and what are you taking out of this?
Renjith Ramanujam: This is our second visit to New Zealand. Our first visit was in August 2014. To begin with we saw a definite match between the small and medium enterprises on both sides i.e., both Kerala and Auckland. Meetings that we have had throughout the day have been extremely meaningful. We have had six meetings with government and non-government agencies throughout the day. We also had a good set of meetings with businesses in Auckland. Delegates are trying to forge a relationship either in technology or enter partnership in business. The motto of this delegation is to open up doors for joint ventures by which they will discuss transformational IT solution in various verticals.This also gives everyone an opportunity to find out how everyone can scale up to each other in their own businesses or provide better services to their respective clients by joining hands together. We don’t expect things to happen overnight and that’s precisely why we have kept it as a five-year initiative. We have in fact completed three years of it. Unfortunately, we could not come to New Zealand in the first year but then, two times that we have come here, the visits have been really fruitful. We have two more visits which would come up. We hope people from both sides meet each other as many times as possible before we come again for the next time which may be 10-12 months period from now.
IWK: Do you think that the potential for trade relationship between the two countries or in a larger perspective, the entire ANZ(Australia and New Zealand) has never been exploited to the maximal extent which it is capable of?
Renjith: Kerala like many parts of India is actually not well known in this part of the world. So it is up to us to come here and let everybody know that Hey, India is not just about one or two cities. We exist too, this is what we do and these are the business opportunities that you have with us. That, unfortunately, we have not been able to do in the past which made us think about initiatives, which have brought us here. It is important that we keep talking and potential unveils itself and people start doing a bilateral trade. There has been minimal trade taking place between the two regions so far. New Zealand companies have immense potential in Kerala.
IWK: There is a general perception off late that trade between India and the western world has got mostly to do with IT servicing and outsourcing. Do you think companies from other sectors can come to New Zealand and explore opportunities?
Renjith: See, this trip is not about outsourcing at all and I feel in the last 5 years or so it has not worked that way either. At global level outsourcing model has sort of worn out and I believe if someone is still clinging on to that, they are going to have bad businesses. The whole point is to meet each other and explore and find out for one self what it is in it for them. It could be collaboration in sports, education, skill development process, age care and so on. So it is not just about IT or IT outsourcing only. For example, we are extremely happy to have been a reason for initiation of business ties between the government of Victoria, Australia and our state, Kerala. What started as a relationship in IT has spread to sports, healthcare, agri-tech and many other sectors. So business happens both ways and we are open to making any introductions to companies who are desirous of exploring business opportunities in Kerala. Being based in the capital city of Kerala, Trivandrum, we have an excellent relationship with government and government agencies. Anybody who has come to Kerala or this part of the world, we have taken them to all the required contacts in government and businesses and we will continue to do that.
IWK: Is there any specific advantage that businesses have in ANZ region?
Renjith: We have just started to explore and a good thing has been that people have been able to find synergy. There is no specific advantage as such for working with any specific region but finding a perfect match is what matters. See, people have been reinventing the wheel. Someone in Kerala is trying to invent something and if someone in Auckland is doing the same thing at the same time without knowing that the solution is available in some other part of the world, it is a waste of time and energy. Only when people sit together and interact, only then things would work better. That is what exactly should come out of these trade relationships.Tax regime, immigration policies, etc can wait. It is all about finding the right match to do business either ways.
IWK: Bureaucracy in India is considered to be a major hindrance. How easy do you think it would be for a person to handle that who wants to do business in India?
Renjith: There is no separate way of functioning of bureaucracy across the world. We are all well-travelled. People have come to our place and we have gone to theirs. There will be advantages and disadvantages, but there will always be people who will help you do business better with the government and we are one such trade agency which is happy to help. We support with counselor visits, inward delegation visits, etc. We even help people who come individually. Though our mandate set up is limited to IT sector, that doesn’t stop us from helping people meet with government officials. So that is one support you can expect us to help you with. Having somebody locally helps and if can’t help someone in a particular way, we help them get in touch with people who can help them.
IWK: There is a general perception about Kerala that setting up a business is very difficult as there are issues with working unions being very rigid. What do you have to say about that?
Renjith: Kerala traditionally had a perception of being not so friendly with industry which is seeing a sea change from the past. Plenty of industries and especially service industries have flourished in the state. We have thrived on tourism economy and IT-based economy. We can’t afford to lose even a single business day because of the strike or any such thing. Let me tell you that the technopark that I represent has been there for past 25 years and I am very proud to say that we have not a single day to strike or any other problems, unlike our neighboring states, which have lost many working days because of various reasons.
The business delegation from Gtechgroup of technology companies from Kerala, comprising 14 IT companies, are on a visit to New Zealand to seek new avenues for investment, business expansion, and building the client base. Their visit to Auckland saw them actively participate in business sessions...
The business delegation from Gtechgroup of technology companies from Kerala, comprising 14 IT companies, are on a visit to New Zealand to seek new avenues for investment, business expansion, and building the client base. Their visit to Auckland saw them actively participate in business sessions hosted by ITA (Indian Trade Alliance) and INZBC (India New Zealand Business council). Indian Weekender spoke to the CEO of Gtech group of technology companies, Renjith Ramanujam, who is one of the main think-tanks of the group. He is attached to the group for more than four years now and is one of the primary reasons for these companies to visit New Zealand. Renjith spoke to us on various issues ranging from business opportunities in New Zealand to bureaucracy in India.
IWK: How do you sum up the entire visit and what are you taking out of this?
Renjith Ramanujam: This is our second visit to New Zealand. Our first visit was in August 2014. To begin with we saw a definite match between the small and medium enterprises on both sides i.e., both Kerala and Auckland. Meetings that we have had throughout the day have been extremely meaningful. We have had six meetings with government and non-government agencies throughout the day. We also had a good set of meetings with businesses in Auckland. Delegates are trying to forge a relationship either in technology or enter partnership in business. The motto of this delegation is to open up doors for joint ventures by which they will discuss transformational IT solution in various verticals.This also gives everyone an opportunity to find out how everyone can scale up to each other in their own businesses or provide better services to their respective clients by joining hands together. We don’t expect things to happen overnight and that’s precisely why we have kept it as a five-year initiative. We have in fact completed three years of it. Unfortunately, we could not come to New Zealand in the first year but then, two times that we have come here, the visits have been really fruitful. We have two more visits which would come up. We hope people from both sides meet each other as many times as possible before we come again for the next time which may be 10-12 months period from now.
IWK: Do you think that the potential for trade relationship between the two countries or in a larger perspective, the entire ANZ(Australia and New Zealand) has never been exploited to the maximal extent which it is capable of?
Renjith: Kerala like many parts of India is actually not well known in this part of the world. So it is up to us to come here and let everybody know that Hey, India is not just about one or two cities. We exist too, this is what we do and these are the business opportunities that you have with us. That, unfortunately, we have not been able to do in the past which made us think about initiatives, which have brought us here. It is important that we keep talking and potential unveils itself and people start doing a bilateral trade. There has been minimal trade taking place between the two regions so far. New Zealand companies have immense potential in Kerala.
IWK: There is a general perception off late that trade between India and the western world has got mostly to do with IT servicing and outsourcing. Do you think companies from other sectors can come to New Zealand and explore opportunities?
Renjith: See, this trip is not about outsourcing at all and I feel in the last 5 years or so it has not worked that way either. At global level outsourcing model has sort of worn out and I believe if someone is still clinging on to that, they are going to have bad businesses. The whole point is to meet each other and explore and find out for one self what it is in it for them. It could be collaboration in sports, education, skill development process, age care and so on. So it is not just about IT or IT outsourcing only. For example, we are extremely happy to have been a reason for initiation of business ties between the government of Victoria, Australia and our state, Kerala. What started as a relationship in IT has spread to sports, healthcare, agri-tech and many other sectors. So business happens both ways and we are open to making any introductions to companies who are desirous of exploring business opportunities in Kerala. Being based in the capital city of Kerala, Trivandrum, we have an excellent relationship with government and government agencies. Anybody who has come to Kerala or this part of the world, we have taken them to all the required contacts in government and businesses and we will continue to do that.
IWK: Is there any specific advantage that businesses have in ANZ region?
Renjith: We have just started to explore and a good thing has been that people have been able to find synergy. There is no specific advantage as such for working with any specific region but finding a perfect match is what matters. See, people have been reinventing the wheel. Someone in Kerala is trying to invent something and if someone in Auckland is doing the same thing at the same time without knowing that the solution is available in some other part of the world, it is a waste of time and energy. Only when people sit together and interact, only then things would work better. That is what exactly should come out of these trade relationships.Tax regime, immigration policies, etc can wait. It is all about finding the right match to do business either ways.
IWK: Bureaucracy in India is considered to be a major hindrance. How easy do you think it would be for a person to handle that who wants to do business in India?
Renjith: There is no separate way of functioning of bureaucracy across the world. We are all well-travelled. People have come to our place and we have gone to theirs. There will be advantages and disadvantages, but there will always be people who will help you do business better with the government and we are one such trade agency which is happy to help. We support with counselor visits, inward delegation visits, etc. We even help people who come individually. Though our mandate set up is limited to IT sector, that doesn’t stop us from helping people meet with government officials. So that is one support you can expect us to help you with. Having somebody locally helps and if can’t help someone in a particular way, we help them get in touch with people who can help them.
IWK: There is a general perception about Kerala that setting up a business is very difficult as there are issues with working unions being very rigid. What do you have to say about that?
Renjith: Kerala traditionally had a perception of being not so friendly with industry which is seeing a sea change from the past. Plenty of industries and especially service industries have flourished in the state. We have thrived on tourism economy and IT-based economy. We can’t afford to lose even a single business day because of the strike or any such thing. Let me tell you that the technopark that I represent has been there for past 25 years and I am very proud to say that we have not a single day to strike or any other problems, unlike our neighboring states, which have lost many working days because of various reasons.
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