BANGALORE: Global collaboration of startups can help benefit countries through the exchange of knowledge, resources, and expertise, according to the head of India’s National Association of Software & Service Companies. NASSCOM Director Navratan Katariya believes that counterpart ecosystem enablers can lead to wider bilateral cooperations globally. “Startups have to cross boundaries there is no doubt about it, global markets should be their markets. We as ecosystem enablers need a counterpart ecosystem enabler in other countries like Saudi Arabia to be able to help each other’s ecosystem,” Katariya told Arab News. NASSCOM is a nongovernmental trade association and advocacy group focused mainly on IT and the business process outsourcing industry. Its mission is to develop the global IT sector through policy advocacy, promoting intellectual capital and cooperation. Katariya said by promoting cooperation among startups globally and enlisting counterpart ecosystem enablers, the requirements of different countries including Saudi Arabia and India can be met. Through such a collaboration, all stakeholders can benefit from each other resources and know-how. “You help us in the areas that we want and we will help you in the areas you need help,” the NASSCOM chief explained. Talking about Saudi Arabia, Kataryia sees a huge potential for different sectors to collaborate and work together for mutual benefits. He gave examples of agri-tech and renewable energy where Kataryia believes India could provide assistance to the Kingdom as per its needs. “We are working with 10 countries and they all have specific requirements,” he said. The Kingdom has previously collaborated with NASSCOM in advancing Saudi-India business and technology ties. The Consulate General of India, Jeddah conducted Datalogue — an exclusive virtual private IT B2B meet in association with NASSCOM in March and October 2021. The aim of the event was to accelerate IT capabilities and boost collaboration between the two countries in the sector. Through the virtual sessions, Indian IT companies were able to discuss emerging technologies, solutions, and areas of cooperation with the companies in Saudi Arabia. Currently, NASSCOM works with nearly 150 startups from 10 countries including Japan, Germany, France, Taiwan, Sweden, the UK, and the US. The NASSCOM director told Arab News: “Over the last 6+ years and (through) our four centers (Bangalore being the oldest), we have incubated over 350 early-stage startups, who have raised over $150 million.”