US expert praises Indian skills

India has a high level of intellectual and innovation capacity, comparable to the United States of America (USA), Doug Tatum, financial and technical consultant, claimed here today.

Speaking at a seminar on how to turn the present crisis into competitive advantage, Tatum said, "India has very good intellectual and innovation potential when compared to the US, where less than 10 per cent of the growing companies have technology innovation potentials and innovation is achieved only by reaching the edge of a cliff."

Even in this current financial turmoil, small and medium enterprises in Kolkata were positive about growing using innovation and intellect, he added.

Indian companies provided service innovation, for improvement and enhancement of corporate performance. The conference, Fortune High Growth series, was the fifth organised by FICCI FLO (the womens' organisation of FICCI) in association with SAP and Fortune to take a look at growth stages of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the East.

The main problems faced by these companies included customer concentration, identification of opportunities and risk management, said Rohit Prakash representing SAP. Companies had to understand customer needs to enhance their business. SAP, the partner in the event, had a huge customer base in the East with 25 per cent market share in the SME sector.