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NIIT goes to Bangladesh

NIIT Limited has set up a 'software factory' in Dhaka in collaboration with the $400 million-turnover Beximco Group of Bangladesh.

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This is the first time the Indian IT education major is setting up an overseas joint venture in the software arena.

The move has been described as the "first significant industrial effort to fully exploit the software export potential from Bangladesh''.

Dr Smarajit Dey, vice-president, NIIT Limited, in charge of the eastern India geographical region that includes Bangladesh, said a memorandum of understanding has already been signed with the overseas partner even as the financial modalities between the Beximco Group and NIIT were being worked out.

Dr Dey expressed the hope that the software factory would become operational by March next year.

NIIT's decision to set up the joint venture with Beximco - Bangladesh's largest industrial group with diversified business interests - was prompted by the local government's decision to accord special importance to software exports, said Dr Dey.

The Bangladesh government has set a software export target of $3 billion to be achieved within the next three years.

Also, along with local partner Beximco, NIIT has expressed its desire to participate in the informatics projects taken up lately by the Bangladesh government.

The response to the proposal has been positive and discussions are at an advanced stage.

NIIT's proposed involvement in software exports from Bangladesh is part of an integrated approach to service a willing market with a portfolio of services. Earlier, in March 1997, NIIT had set up its first educational centre in Bangladesh in collaboration with the Beximco Group.

The first centre in Dhaka - which enrolled 2,000 students within the first year of operations - is stated to have recorded the highest pace of growth in any NIIT education centre anywhere in the world.

This, Dey observed, truly reflected the need for quality computer education in the organised sector in Bangladesh.

Today, NIIT has three education centres in Bangladesh - two in Dhaka and one in Chittagong. The Chittagong centre has been set up in collaboration with the $200 million-turnover KDS Group, the latter with a major presence in the readymade garments business.

While the overseas partner provides the infrastructure in these centres, NIIT provides support in terms of manpower up to a certain managerial level and for the faculty's top rung.

Dr Dey said plans were being firmed up to add seven more education centres, thereby taking the number of NIIT centres across Bangladesh to 10 by September next year.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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