In view of the overwhelming response of visitors, especially the young people, at the 11th Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) Info-Tech 2005 that concluded in the capital Sunday, industry leaders say now it is time to reflect and redesign the show.
On Saturday, hundreds of visitors, especially the young people queued up in front of the Birendra International Convention Centre (BICC) at least for half an hour each to enter the premises to view the show put together by the CAN.
“It’s something like a fun-fair. I have come here with my friends to see latest versions of mobiles, computers and CDs,” said Ritika, a –plus two student at a private Kathmandu college. While over 100 exhibitors were finding it hard to explain about their products and services to hundreds of inquisitive visitors, exhibitors said CAN now needed to focus on the targeted segment of prospective buyers.
“Due to mismanagement of the crowd, we have not succeeded in convincing the clients. Now on the CAN organizers have to be alert about the crowd that the event is going to face and the mismatch between the exhibitors and the visitors of the event,” Poonam Chand Dugar, executive director of Ishan Infosys Pvt. Ltd, told PC-Info—an official magazine of the CAN Info-Tech ’05.
CAN officials, however, said they expected that the `business day’ allocated for Sunday to be successful. Said Biplav Man Singh, president of CAN, “ Of course, the bottom-line is business. At a time when the economy is passing through recession, we have brought the whole IT market in front of the consumers to help prop up economic activities.”
CAN must be happy to see that over 230,000 people visited the six-day long exhibition, but exhibitors said overall sales this year were down.
Talking to Nepalnews at the BICC premises Sunday, general secretary of CAN, Vivek Rana, said CAN Info-Tech was a national IT fair and that everybody who wanted to know about IT (Information Technology) should have an opportunity to get a feel of what IT is. “It is a major event for us as it helps in revenue generation and in the cash flow of companies,” he added.
Industry leaders say now it is time for CAN to reflect and review its strategies.
“A lot of visitors are more educated now an they are more familiar towards ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). People are buying more sophisticated products and are demanding better quality products,” said Sanjib Rajbhandari, CEO of Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd, the pioneering IT company in the country. “It’s an indication of more developed market. So, CAN too needs to take a quantum leap and move beyond the present pattern of show,” he added.
The expanding IT market in the country has attracted foreign companies to make their presence felt in Nepal. Companies from India, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, among others, took part in the show.
Thanks to wide-ranging interests on IT and multi-media, even first time exhibitors said they got very good response from the visitors. “Some 150 buyers have booked our products during the show,” said Mahesh Pandey, chief executive director of Space Tech Computer (P.) Ltd. that deals in branded, assembled, laptop computers and peripherals. “Most of the buyers were interested in assembled computers as there is huge price margin between the assembled and branded computers,” said Pandey.
Not only in selling products and services, huge competition could be seen this year to attract students and young people towards various ICT courses. Softech IT School, a private sector institute, offered a package of “free” Pentium 4 computer, travel to Bangalore and Hyderabad and job placement guarantee to students who enrolled in its six-month long course of Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 at a cost of Rs 43,000.
“The package we have offered is value for money and we have already enrolled around 80 students so far,” said Vikal Mishra of the Softech IT School.
While the cat-walking models at the stall that was showcasing latest editions of Sony Ericsson mobile phones was able to attract a huge crowd, sales personnel at the nearby stall owned by Nepal Electro Power System Pvt. Ltd said they too were happy with the visitors response.
“Though we showcased UPS that cost up to Rs 1.2 million, most of the people were interested in household UPS and voltage stabilizers the price range of which starts from Rs 2,650,” said Prem Adhikary of the Nepal Electro Power System (P) Ltd. that manufactures UPS, stabilizers etc. at its production unit at Birgunj. “Industrial areas and hospitals are our major customers for our huge UPS products,” he added.
While the CAN Info-Tech seemed something like a ‘make-believe world’ for many who can’t afford a computer or don’t have access to Internet facilities, IT professionals say it has played a catalytic role in creating favourable policy environment and establishing IT as a promising sector in the country’s economy.
“The IT policy 2004 has opened up a lot of new areas. But IT has to be seen not only as a technical tool but also as a socio-economic and industrial tool,” insisted Vivek Rana of the CAN. “ICT has to be seen as a tool for development process.”
According to Rana, the IT sector has been able to attract a lot of young talents and the challenge now was to absorb them in the domestic market and help them gain skills which could be sold even in the international market. “So far, Info-Tech has remained only supply-oriented, now we have to try to make it demand-oriented,” he added. nepalnews.com by Jan 31 05