Saudi youth get a feel of India's software power

Bangalore, March 28 (IANS) A 40-member youth delegation from Saudi Arabia, on a perception-changing visit to this country, got firsthand experience of India's software power at Infosys Ltd, India's IT major, here and some higher education institutes that spawn techies and business managers.

"The Saudi youth were given an overview of the Indian IT industry and the software development work we do to enhance productivity and businesses of our global clients," an Infosys spokesperson told IANS after the visit Tuesday evening..

The members of the Saudi Youth Forum delegation, both men and women who are on a 10-day visit to India since March 22, is led by its Deputy Minister for Economic and Cultural Affairs Yousef Terad Al Saadon and comprises students, mediapersons and youth from different walks of life.

The objective of the visit, said the organisers, was to "start a dialogue between young people from both our countries and learn about each other's culture, viewpoints and experiences".

The visit, organised by the Saudi ministry of foreign affairs, hopes to promote growing Saudi-Indian ties and benefit from the Indian experience in the field of communication and information technology.

Saudi Arabia is witnessing a 'population bonus' with a young generation of 3.4 million, accounting for over 20 percent of the its population, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

"The Saudi youth viewed a presentation on our company, and asked many questions on its growth, entrepreneurship, human resources and corporate social responsibility (CSR) related issues," the spokesperson said.

The Saudi youth were also taken on a guided tour of the sprawling Infosys campus on the city's outskirts after they were briefed about the various facilities the global software major built over the last two decades.

The delegation interacted with Infosys' senior vice president for commercial and corporate relations Binod Hampapur and Infosys' Young Indians head Abhishek Tiwari.

During their second day in this tech hub Tuesday, the young delegation visited the L.M. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research campus in the electronics city to interact with the faculty and exchanges ideas with the business school students.

"Our youth evinced keen interest in the various management programmes taught at the institute and projects undertaken to inculcate leadership qualities in the B-school students," Mesfer, an official of the Saudi embassy in India accompanying the delegation, told IANS.

Reputed international business magazine Forbes India ranked Welingkar institute 10th among the top private B-schools and eighth in the international linkages in its 'Best Business School Survey' last year.

The delegation also visited the Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering (SVCE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the city for acquainting with the courses imparted and training methods employed in churning hundreds of engineers across disciplines for the knowledge industry.

"The interactive sessions with the students were rewarding as our youth could learn a lot on the advances made in the engineering disciplines, especially in computer sciences, electronics and communications for the digital world," Mesfer said.

The Saudi youth also had a lively session with a group of Young Indians, formed by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) of India Inc.

The Saudi delegation also visited the satellite centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Narayana Hrudayalaya, a hospital specialising in cardiac care, Monday for a firsthand account of the progress made in space applications and advances made in healthcare through telemedicine.

The youth forum were in Hyderabad for three days last week and will be visiting in New Delhi from Wednesday.

(Fakir Balaji can be contacted at fakir.b@ians.in)