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Prakash Menon was sent to China six years ago to establish the Chinese headquarters of NIIT, an Indian company offering software training programs.
But where? The 33-year-old Indian businessman was at a crossroads.
By the end of a 15-day China tour, Menon decided on Shanghai.
Now, the NIIT has set up over 100 training centers in China and enrolled nearly 20 thousand trainees.
"Few Indian business people had the aspiration to set up enterprises in China five years ago," Menon said in his office located on the West Nanjing Road, a top business street in Shanghai, crowded with the Chinese headquarters of multinational corporations.
"But now, more and more Indian businessmen and firms are turning from Europe and America to the nearby huge market," he said.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is also interested in doing business with China and will give a speech in Shanghai on Thursday, addressing the opportunities and challenges between the two countries in IT cooperation.
"The Prime Minister's visit will be a major boost to cooperation in the field between India and China," said Menon.
He said Indian businessmen in Shanghai were closely following the event, and Indian firms showed rising enthusiasm for investment in Shanghai.
"I receive seven or eight e-mails every one or two days from Indian companies inquiring how to invest and operate in China," he said.
The top four software manufacturers and exporters in India have opened branches or R&D centers in Shanghai.
Usually, the software industry will experience four stages of development and China is now between the first and second stage, while India is proceeding to the fourth stage, Menon said.
"Somebody said the gap will be eliminated in two or three years but others said it will take longer," Menon said.
"In fact, the Chinese software industry is growing quickly and the difference is disappearing."
Menon's hometown Bangalore was called the Silicon Valley of India.
"There is only one Bangalore in India," he said, "but China has the potential to incubate many Bangalores."
Many Chinese cities meet conditions required to develop software industry, Menon said, whether in terms of economic strength, environment and infrastructure, such as Shanghai, Xiamen and Qingdao.
With similar culture and history, China, producing large amount of hardware, and India, known for its software industry, share huge potential for further cooperation.
Among the 60,000 foreigners living in Shanghai, only 350 were from India, but the exchange has been heated in the catering sector with the establishment of seven Indian restaurants in Shanghai.
"I like Shanghai, which shows the same vitality as Bangalore does," said an Indian businessman.
"I tell my friends who kept asking about China that the country cannot be explained by words," Menon said.
"You feel the shock with your own visit and then fall in love with the country."
"Vice versa, Chinese people should go to India to taste the ancient and rich Indian culture, as well as tap the huge market there," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2003)
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