Chinese city aims at B’luru

Dalian (China), Jun 29: Inspired by the success of Bengaluru on the information technology front, this city in north-east China has set for itself an ambitious target of becoming world’s top IT centre within a decade and stand in the same league as India’s ‘Silicon Valley’.

A scenic coastal city set among green hills, Dalian has already attracted a large number of international and local corporations to set up regional bases for information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing services.

Among these are 34 Fortune 500 companies. "By 2017 or 2018, we hope to be a peer with Silicon Valley (of America) and Bengaluru," said Dalian mayor Xia Deren.

"We are striving to be the No 1 software centre in both China and the world," said Mr Xia on sidelines of the China International Software and Information Services Fair (CISIS) 2008.

The annual event saw participation from some top-notch companies like SAP, Neusoft, Ericsson and Microsoft.

Software export from Karnataka (mainly Bengaluru) was worth Rs 54,000 crore in 2007-08, up from Rs 48,600 crore in the previous year.

As compared, in 2007, the software export exceeded $700 million in Dalian, which had a workforce of 60,000 people and was home to nearly 700 IT/BPO enterprises.

As many as 50 multinationals among Global 500 have set up software R&D and service institutions here, a feat not achieved by any other Chinese city.

— PTI