Machine tool units to benefit from higher Swiss BPO orders

Indian machine tool manufacturers are likely to benefit from higher business process outsourcing (BPO) contracts from Switzerland according to indications available at the 'Swiss Day' symposium held on Friday by machine tool manufacturers as part of a seven-day trade fair in Mumbai.

Addressing the symposium, the Swiss secretary for economic affairs David Syz said, "For Switzerland, to maintain and consolidate its position in the machine tool segment in a growing global competitive scenario, it has become necessary for it to look at the potential partners in countries such as India that have hi-tech and cost-effective manufacturing capabilities."

Switzerland is among the 10 major machine tool exporting countries in the world and has exported machine tools worth $215 million in the first three quarters of the fiscal 2003-04.

Complimenting the small scale machine tool sector in India for its high level of innovation and design, aesthetics, productivity and economy, Syz called for greater collaboration between the Indian and Swiss companies extending beyond buyer-seller meets to include joint exploration of major machine tool markets in SE Asia and China. He added that like India, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in his country formed the backbone of the economy, and were faced with issues similar to those of their counterparts in India, such as access to financial support, cumbersome administrative procedures and exploring global collaborative opportunities.

W B Gyger, the Swiss ambassador, lauded India's liberalisation policies of the past decade and dwelt on the need for collaborative efforts to bring Swiss and Indian companies together, including outsourcing to Indian machine tool companies.

The formation of the Swiss Business Hub "" India in 2001 was a major step to achieve these objectives and to accelerate Swiss industrial investments in the country.

BS Minhas, Union secretary of small scale industries, said that machine tools formed the backbone of industry in the country.

The sector was an important input for the country's progress towards self reliance in defence production, aerospace, railways, automobiles and infrastructure.

He referred to the partnership between government and industry that resulted in the national programme for the development of a highly competitive machine tool industry.

The visible impact of the programme was noticeable at the trade fair with displays of world class machine tools and manufacturing solutions by several Indian exhibitors particularly the small and medium technocrat-entrepreneurs.