CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

April 6, 2001



Cuba tie-in nets Scots SMEs £200m

Andrew Murray-Watson. The Scotsman Online. April 6, 2001.

A GLASGOW-BASED IT company has signed a strategic partnership with Cuban authorities which could be worth more than £200 million to the Scottish software industry over the next 10 years.

K-Gen, which specialises in export facilitating software for SMEs trying to break into foreign markets, is to become a "front door" to the Caribbean country for Scottish firms looking for off-shore IT development opportunities.

Gerry Harris, chief executive of K-Gen will give a keynote speech about the commercials opportunities in Cuba at an e-government conference hosted by foreign minister Brian Wilson today.

He said: "The biggest constraint on growth for Scotland’s software industry is a chronic lack of trained staff. Cuba has been investing in human resources for decades and has 30,000 qualified IT engineers."

"We believe the partnership will be worth at least £200 million to the Scottish software industry over the next decade," Harris said.

K-Gen, in collaboration with Cuban software company Softel will build a "digital bridge" that will provide a formal link between the two countries and assist in the exchange of staff and resources.

The Glasgow company will launch a website later this year to provide a one-stop shop into the Cuban software sector that will serve as a conduit for Scottish SMEs.

It is hoped the site will eventually become the main online route into Caribbean markets for all European firms.

Commenting on the historic agreement, Cuban minister for informatics and communications, Juan Fernandez, said: "Scottish and Cuban software companies have a similar approach. When you walk the same path, why not travel together?"

He added that Cuba was not looking to undercut IT development in the UK: "Cuba is not a software sweatshop. There are currently 600,000 unfilled IT positions in Europe. Hopefully we can reduce that number."

Like other industrialised nations, the UK suffers from a software skills shortage and will be short of 620,000 IT professionals by 2003, according to a report by the influential European Information Technology Observatory.

Up until now, Cuban companies have lacked the marketing expertise to sell their products overseas - a problem that Harris hopes to solve.

"This agreement will be mutually beneficial. It gives both sides the opportunity to gain from each other."

Commenting on the partnership, María Antonia Tardío, the general director of Softel, said: "We believe that it can be extremely significant to better master the business and cultural environment in Cuba and the Caribbean."

It was also announced that a software trade mission to Cuba for Scottish firms is to be scheduled for this Autumn.

"Scottish firms have a headstart on the rest of the UK as well as Europe," said Fernandez.

"The trade mission will greatly enhance that," he added.

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