Indiasoft 2001, which is being organised in Delhi on 23rd and 24th February this year, will focus on IT-enabled services, venture financing of start ups and IT manpower management besides concentrating on e-commerce and convergence. The event is being sponsored by ministry of Information Technology and ministry of commerce and industry while the governments of Punjab, Gujarat and UP are also partnering for the event.

Mr D K Sareen, executive director of ESC, while addressing a press conference here on Monday, said: " Indiasoft 2001 will bring together more than 30 countries which are looking for IT outsourcing from Indian software companies." Around 15 countries have already confirmed the participation of their delegation in the event and others are also expected to confirm soon. The countries confirming their participation include USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Thailand and Egypt.

According to Mr S Laxminarayan, joint secretary, minister of Information Technology, the event will provide a platform to small and medium size software companies to explore the world market while being in India. "We need to focus on small and medium sector software companies and take them ahead in export business," said Mr Laxminarayan.

Moreover, Indiasoft will give Indian companies an opportunity to develop their market base in other countries than in the US. "We should not put all the eggs in one basket rather we should develop other countries for outsourcing their software requirements from India," said the ministry official.

While talking on the sidelines, ESC official told eFE that the organisation will be spending around Rs 2 to Rs 2.5 crore for organising the event. The investment included the overseas ESC delegation visits to market the event in different countries. However, the revenue which will be generated through the event participation fee will barely cover the cost. "It is a promotional event for Indian software industry's growth in so many countries, we are not looking for making a profit," said a senior ESc official.

The council has claimed that it has roped in some of the global experts to address the conference such as Mr Denis Rice, chairman, Committee on Cyberspace Law, California State Bar, USA; Mr Thomas Nies, president, Cincom Systems, USA; Mr Sabeer Bhatia Hotmail fame; Mr Tim Kasse, co-founder of Institute for Software Process Improvement, USA;Ms Katherine Dance, chief operating officer, Air Infotech, USA; Mr Amreesh Modi, vice-president, Motorola, USA; Dr Ajoy Bose, CEO, Interra Software, USA; Mr K Srinivasan, CEO, Austin Venture Capital, USA; Mr Kailash Joshi, President, TIE, USA; Pawan Kumar, President, DSQ Software; Prof Bharat Bhaskar of IIM, Lucknow; and Mr Sanjay Kalra, senior vice-president, HCL Technologies; to name a few.