Tuesday, February 15 2005 17:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: An Indian IT training firm and a Pakistan software firm have jointly bid for a contract with the Sindh Government in Pakistan to train about 1,000 youth in call centre skills in the neighbouring nation, officials said today (Feb 15, 2005).

In the first joint collaboration between IT companies of India and Pakistan, Karachi-based Arwen Tech Ltd has roped in New Delhi-based IT and BPO skills trainer Evolve Services to bid for the $ 1 million (Rs 4.5 crore) contract to train youngsters for working in call centres that serve firms in the UK and the US.

"We have collaborated with Evolve services for the bid and the tenders opened last week will be finalised by this month," Arwen CEO Atiq Rehman told reporters.

The firm is also working with Hewitt India, which has experience with several Indian State Governments, to evolve IT strategy and resources for the Pakistan and Sindh Governments.

"If we get through this project, we will form a joint venture for implementing it and more people from India can work in Pakistan for upto six moths," Rehman said.

Rehman is part of TT industry delegation of Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA), the software industry body wound off its week long visit to India today, after trips to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, on invitation from India's software body NASSCOM.

Pakistan has about 400 software and 70 BPO firms with IT exports to touch $ 500 million this year, PASHA president Jehan Ara said.

The delegation visited the campus of software firms like Infosys, MindTree Consulting, vMoksha Technologies and Mphasis in Bangalore, besides interacting with Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy in the city and Wipro Czar Azim Premji in Mumbai at the NASSCOM annual summit.

Ara said PASHA had invited Murthy to visit Pakistan and would take this forward and get the Pakistan Government to invite him officially to Islamabad.

Pakistan's software industry, she said, was growing between 50 per cent to 100 per cent annually and there were opportunities for collaboration between firms of the two nations to tap IT offshoring contracts from the West.

"The cake (of IT outsourcing) is too big. By competing as working jointly we can all enjoy the pie. We should look at making the entire South Asian region (SAARC) a place for outsourcing," Rehman said.

"We are talking long term," Ara said on business talks with firms of the two neighbours, adding, that visa rules should be relaxed by both the nations for furthering their cause.

A entry level programmer earns about Pakistani rupees 15,000, she said, adding, the cost of operations there was "cheaper" than India.

Ara said both Indian and Pakistani firms can tap the West Asia, US and Europe market and the skill sets available in her nation were in Oil and Gas, banking, ERP in textiles and telecom.