Narayana Murthy

ICT Enables Asia to Leapfrog Poverty Barriers, Says Expert

HONOLULU, HAWAII (7 May, 2001) - Information and communications technology (ICT) allows the poor to leapfrog poverty barriers by creating jobs and boosting productivity said Narayana Murthy, Chairman and CEO of Infosys Technologies, in Honolulu today.

Lorraine Hahn

Mr. Murthy was among several speakers at a seminar on the Role of ICT in Poverty Reduction prior to the ADB's 34th annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. Mr. Murthy said ICT reduces costs, saves time, improves efficiency, raises comfort levels and increases the confidence of consumers.

Gabrial Accascina

In countries like People's Republic of China, India, and the Philippines, export opportunities from software exports and from business processing outsourcing will create millions of jobs. Increased productivity will bring special benefit to the poor in countries like India where delays and corruption in public services at present cause huge productivity losses.

Read Mr. Murthy's paper.