PADERBORN, and NEW DELHI, Nov. 1 -- PRNewswire/ AsiaNet
Investment in Smart Chip Limited
ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH and Smart Chip Limited today announced ORGA's
investment in Smart Chip Limited, India's leading smart card company. Smart
Chip Limited (SCL) and its subsidiary Syscom, currently enjoying some 85
percent of the Indian smart card market in the health, banking and ID arenas,
as well as close to 40 percent of the GSM market, have a longstanding
relationship with ORGA as partner in developing the Indian smart card market
since 1995. The many years' partnership is now being given a new foundation
with Smart Chip and Syscom becoming members of the ORGA Group, which marks
another step in ORGA's international footprint.
"India is steadily gaining in importance in the international economy, and
the smart card is the ticket to a huge market," is the confident opinion shared
by Oliver Jaster, CEO of ORGA Kartensysteme, and Sanjeev Shriya, founder of SCL
and the Managing Director of Smart Chip.
The shared vision of Jaster and Shriya is to make smart card technology
accessible to all social classes. Around one billion people, or one sixth of
the world's population, live in India, yet a large number of India's 600,000
villages still have no telecommunications connection. To date, there are only
about 30 million users privileged enough to afford mobile telephony in India.
"Yet the great telecommunications boom has long since begun, and India is
currently one of the world's fastest growing GSM markets," says Jaster.
New markets are opening up almost by the day in India, due to its huge
population, and the current importance being given to developing IT
infrastructure. In particular, Smart Chip has been an active player in the ID
market. "The large national ID project is on the agenda, and we intend to
position ourselves as an experienced solution provider for it," states Jaster.
Jaster also expects great market potential in banking.
"The most important requirements for an international company to place
itself in a market like India are not just commercial know-how or
implementation of European standards. It is imperative to work together with
companies that move in the local market, understand the country and recognize
special needs," is how Jaster describes the situation. "Having decided to
commit to India, it was only natural to join hands with the market leader. And
SCL is without doubt the leader in India" The collaborative partnership of ORGA
and SCL has already proven its credentials, with the launch of the Gujarat
Driving Licence project as early as in 1998.
Syscom is one of the largest SIM suppliers in India and has successfully
built SIM solutions and products to meet Indian needs. Besides it has been
personalizing cards locally since 1997, and has the largest personalization
centre in the country today.
"With Orga's technical expertise and Smart Chip's development capability
there is no doubt that the Indian Smart Card market will see some state of the
art solutions and products emerging and we are confident that these solutions
will also be very useful for international markets", says Shriya
Smart Chip and Syscom were founded in 1995 by Sanjeev Shriya. They are
India's largest Smart Card companies and currently employ around 220 people.
Smart Chip has a large presence in the ID, Transportation, and Health segments,
while Syscom enjoys market leadership in the SIM business in India.
ORGA is a pioneer and one of the world's most successful players in the
smart card industry. ORGA offers innovative, end-to-end solutions based on
leading-edge technology and tailored to meet the individual needs of its
customers. Its portfolio includes card-related hardware, software, consulting
and services for the Telecommunications, Banking, Health and ID
sectors.Headquartered in Paderborn, Germany, ORGA has an array of modern
production facilities, including its Smart Card Center in Flintbek near Kiel
and manufacturing plants in Russia and Brazil. The ORGA Group includes the
billing specialist ORGA Systems, subsidiaries in the U.S., the UK, Singapore,
Portugal and Russia, and numerous branch offices and joint ventures throughout
the world.
http://www.orga.com
SOURCE: ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH
CONTACT: Sonja Risse of ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH,
+49-5251-889-1207,
Fax: +49-5251-889-1843,
Mobile: +49-163-889-1152,
[email protected]
Web Site: http://www.orga.com
--Distributed by AsiaNet (www.asianetnews.net)--