Portugal wants to be economic link between India, EU

Bangalore, Jan 16 (UNI) Portugal, a key member of the European Union (EU), can act as an ideal link between India and the EU in promoting political, economic and cultural ties, Portugal President H E Anibal Antonio Cavaco Silva opined today.

Briefing media persons after inaugurating Wipro Retail Learning Centre at the IT major's sprawling facility at Electronics City here, he said he was leading a 60-member group of leading entrepreneurs from his country who wanted to study the giant strides India had made in the fields of IT, BT and pharma sectors. ''In view of the fast paced progress achieved by the Indian companies, the Portugese businessmen can certainly take a leaf out of their experience. It is time they understood India better,'' he added.

Citing the example of Wipro acquiring Portugese IT firm Enabler, he said such business deals could go a long way in developing the knowledge-based industry in his country.

Prof Cavaco Silva, who arrived in the city this morning on a three-day visit to the country, would inaugurate the CII Partnership Summit here tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Wipro Technologies announced the setting up of its retail Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Portugal.

Mr Sudip Banerjee, President, Enterprise Solutions Division of Wipro said that with the acquisition of Enabler, an Oracle Retail Implementer, Portugal had become a key hub for the company's global retail business.

Wipro would set up three such CoEs for Oracle Retail in Portugal, Brazil and India to address the European, Latin American and Asia Pacific markets, as offshore delivery hubs respectively, he said.

Europe had been one of the fastest growing markets for Wipro, clocking a growth of 48 per cent last year, which contributed to 32 per cent of Wipro's IT services revenues.

UNI