WCIT 2008: Asia has much to offer in ICT arena

Asia offers many ICT opportunities but foreign companies looking to broaden their businesses here must avoid painting the entire region with the same brush, said Datuk Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.
“Don’t assume it is a uniform ICT (information and communications technology) market,” he said, adding that the countries, peoples and cultures of Asia differ from each other as much as those of nations on the other continents.
It is important for the foreign companies to look closely at what each Asian country can offer them and if there are basic foundations and cultural similiarities that can be built upon.
According to him, the emerging ICT opportunities in Asia include e-security, mobile data services, value-added services, public sector solutions, risk management, and creative multimedia.
Also, industry analysts have reported that shared ICT offshoring and outsourcing services remain among the fastest growing market segments in the region, said Ongkili.
Asia‘s share (excluding Japan) of the global outsourcing revenue pie this year is expected to be 25%, which would translate to about US$87bil (RM287bil).
Malaysia is among the top five Asian countries that provide such services; the rest are India, China, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Ongkili was speaking at the World Congress on Information Technology 2008 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Tuesday