EDB boosts IT exports to Japan

As Sri Lanka's IT exports topped US $719 million, a business journalist from the world's fourth largest selling newspaper, was taken by surprise by Sri Lanka's inroads into Japan, one of the most demanding niche software markets in the world.

"I am really surprised by your ability," a business journalist of the Japanese language Mainichi Shimbun, Yuichi Kiriyama, told a gathering of software interest groups eyeing the Japanese market in Colombo recently. It was facilitated by the Export Development Board (EDB).

Led by ICT Sector Director, EDB, M.K.S.K. Maldeniya, the session was attended by representatives from leading industry players such as Seneru Information Technologies Ltd, MaxSolPro Ltd, 99x Technologies, OpenArc System Mgmt Ltd, Orion Development Ltd, hSenid Software, and Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA).

To boost Sri Lanka's IT and BPM presence in Japan, EDB's Assistant Director Ms R. Swarnapali accompanied by representatives of several Sri Lankan IT and BPM firms visited the world's second largest Trade Show on Information Technology (IT) - 'Japan IT Week' at the Tokyo Big Site international exhibition centre, in May.

Among the Lankan delegation were representatives from companies such as Tellida Ltd, Sulva Sutra Concepts Ltd, Orion Development Ltd, and Openarc Systems Management Ltd.

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Japan arranged meetings for the delegation with institutions such as Japan Information Technology Service Industry Association (JISA), Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI), Japan Users Association of Information Systems (JUAS), FUJITSU and CANNON IT Solutions Inc and JETRO Japan.

The session with Japanese media representatives was a follow-up of the visit to Japan in May, where the progress of the visit was reviewed and Sri Lanka's IT ability was introduced to the Japanese media.

To compete successfully in the Japanese software market, the software interface needs to be in the Japanese language - which is demanding since it is spread across no less than three alphabets totalling 8,092 characters.

Yuichi was surprised by the abilities of Lankan software maker MaxSolPro Ltd for Japanese platforms.

CEO, MaxSolPro, M. Gazzaly said, "We are a totally Sri Lankan owned firm. Japan is a specialised software market and you need high standards. For example, our 'Golvi Voice Navi', the voice navigator for golf players has been well received in Japan. We developed it with Digitalvox."

"It is a GPS driven hi-tech hand held gadget that speaks to you and gives you exact directions to the tees, fairways and holes in all top golf courses in Japan. It first identifies the golf course automatically and loads the full profile at the start. While playing, the player wearing Voice Navi does not need to worry about where to turn next. We are also into many other apps in the Japanese language, such as the widely used jpTravel app," he said.

In 2013, Sri Lanka's IT and business process management (BPM) exports stood at US $ 719 million. Over 76% of which were BPM. Sri Lanka has set a target of US $5 billion in IT and BPM exports by 2022 of which BPM is expected to be 62% while creating 200,000 jobs and 1,000 start-ups by target year.

To support the growth targets, the government proposed a five-year half tax holiday in Budget 2014, for new partnerships or firms engaging in international services in the field of accountancy, commerce, finance, law, IT, engineering and architecture.

"Sri Lanka's software industry is not widely known in Japan," said Yuichi.