A senior Indian IT expert has said that he hopes the two countries can use the 2006 China-India Friendship Year as an opportunity to expand cooperation in the software industry.

Rex Trivad, president of the India-China Software Association, made the remarks at the Chinasoft 2006 Conference on April 6 in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

With its world leading hardware industry and surging software development, China has strongly aroused Indian companies' interest in potential cooperation in recent years, said Trivad, who is also president of the Indian Institute of Software Engineering.

According to Trivad, the market capitalization of the Indian Software industry has climbed steeply from 4 billion U.S. dollars in 1999 to about 80 billion U.S. dollars, with software exports in 2005 reaching 15 billion U.S. dollars.

Technological advantage can only be sustained with intensive research and continuous innovation, Trivad said. If countries like India and China were to concentrate on specific areas of their technological advantage, they could "benefit far more than by competing across the spectrum".

On that day, the setting up of a Sino-India Software Research, Education & Training Base in Chengdu was signed between Chengdu and Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley.

"I am confident that very soon Chengdu will be the Capital of IT in China," said Trivad, adding, "we are committed to cooperating fully with Chengdu and supporting the city to follow the success of Bangalore."

Source: Xinhua