Indian Minister of Information and Technology, and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Hon Pramod Mahajan, will be making an official visit to Wellington tomorrow (Friday) as a guest of the government.

Information Technology Minister Paul Swain said there is much potential for cooperation between New Zealand and India in the IT sector.

“Despite the size differential, both countries have a whole lot to offer one another in terms of innovative ideas and technical expertise," he said.

"Meeting with the Indian Minister will offer an excellent opportunity to discuss how we should go about developing linkages in this area.

The fact is that India, particularly Bangalore, has transformed itself into a driver of information technology, turning out thousands of IT skilled graduates a year.

"The number of Indian startups in Silicon Valley is growing particularly fast and it will be interesting to learn how they have made such progress in this area and explore opportunities for incorporating their IT expertise in the New Zealand IT sector," he said.

Pramod Mahajan is visiting New Zealand in his capacity as the Indian IT Minister and will be looking at possibilities for furthering cooperation between New Zealand and India in this sector.

The Minister will be discussing the concept of a Memorandum of Understanding on Information Technology when they meet on Friday.

During his visit to the capital Pramod Mahajan will be meeting with representatives from a number of IT firms, including four companies which are already connected in some way to India.

Ends

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