India's Wipro opens Asia HQ in S'pore

According to the Bangalore, India-based company, the local operation will serve Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.

The IT division of New York Stock Exchange-listed Wipro Ltd also has Asian offices in Taiwan and Australia.

When asked whether Wipro had plans to open other offices in the region, its Asia Pacific & Middle East business head Tapan Bhat said: "If there is a need to serve our customers better (in a particular country), we'll establish direct presence there."

The company does, however, expect to extend its operations to China and Korea in the second phase of its Asia Pacific rollout "one year down the road", said Bhat.

To date, Wipro Infotech employs three business development staff in Singapore.

On why the company has dedicated so few people for its Asia Pacific operations, Bhat replied that the company was "prepared to make the necessary investment to be (among) the top 10 players in the world...and we'll do so when the need arises".

"Last month, we set up an office in Dubai to serve the Middle East market. There, we started out with one staff, and within a span of 45 days we (employed) approximately 20 staff...(So far, we've) clinched deals worth US$2 million," he explained.

According to him, Wipro Infotech generated US$255 million in revenues globally last year. However, Asia Pacific was not a significant contributor to total sales as compared to the US, Europe and India, he added.

When asked why Wipro Infotech did not expand into Asia Pacific sooner, Bhat would only say: "We have reached a high level of maturity in India and feel that we now have the right combination of robust solutions and strong services to deliver the best value to the Asia Pacific market."

The company intends to offer infrastructure management services, systems integration, business solutions and information risk management solutions to its customers in the region.