Kerala has set an ambitious goal of expanding its work space in the IT sector to 10 million sq ft, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Monday.
Inaugurating the global digital hub of Japanese automotive major Nissan on the Technopark campus here, he said the project marked the beginning of a new era for the IT sector in the State. “We will do our best to ensure Kerala becomes Nissan’s second home after Japan.”
Global facility
The facility was declared open by the Chief Minister in the presence of Union Minister of State for Tourism K.J. Alphons, Shashi Tharoor, MP, and Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu. It is designed to serve as the global technology-enabling facility of the multinational giant to support its key projects, including electric and autonomous cars.
Stating that Kerala was set to become the first fully-digitized State in the country, Mr. Vijayan said the arrival of a company like Nissan marked the recognition of the sound IT ecosystem available in the State and the future goals set out in its IT policy.
“We have an abundance of skilled human resource and our efforts are to make the State the best venue in which man and technology can co-exist,” he added.
Mr. Alphons said the future of Kerala relied on the growth of vital sectors like IT and tourism.
“We need to move faster, we need to move many notches higher. We need to make our higher education institutions capable of handling global challenges,” he added.
Indo-Japan ties
Noting that Japan-India relationship has never been as strong as it is today, Mr. Hiramatsu said the great potential of synergies between the two countries is spreading to many fields of business activities.
Tony Thomas, Chief Information Officer, Nissan, said the facility would be a centre of innovation and ingenuity, contributing to the entire value chain.