India's Technology Industry Fears Cuts in Outsourcing from US
印技术行业担心美企减少外包业务
Many in India cheered Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election. But India's technology and outsourcing sector is watching cautiously to see if a new U.S. administration will implement policies that will cut down outsourcing from American companies.
印度是世界上接受美国公司外包业务最多的国家。随着美国民主党的奥巴马当选为总统，印度的技术和外包产业都在谨慎地观察下一届美国政府是否会为了保护美国的就业市场而限制美国公司的业务外包。
Over the last decade, Indian companies have flourished as overseas companies outsource work such as sales calls, technical help desks, accounting and software development to India. The country's huge pool of English-speaking graduates and software engineers work at a fraction of the wages paid in the West, helping to cut down the cost of doing business.
在过去的10年里，印度公司由于境外企业向这里外包电话营销、技术支持、会计和软件开发等业务而蓬勃发展。对于这些海外企业来说，印度拥有庞大的英语人口以及数量众多的信息产业人才，而这里的工资只是西方国家的几分之一。向这里外包业务无疑有利于削减成本。
But there is some uncertainty if work will continue to flow from American companies at the same pace under a new U.S. administration. During his campaign, Senator Barack Obama said he will give incentives to companies that create jobs at home, and stop giving tax breaks to those that ship jobs overseas.
不过，美国新政府上台后，美国公司是否还会像现在这样向印度输送业务还是个未知数。奥巴马在竞选期间曾经多次表示，作为总统，他将奖励那些在美国本土创造就业机会的公司，同时停止给那些外包业务的公司提供税收优惠。
Indian finance minister, P. Chidambaram, remains optimistic that India's outsourcing sector will not be impacted.
然而印度财长奇丹巴兰姆对于这个问题似乎并不怎么担心。他认为印度承包美国公司业务的部门不会受到影响。
"A comment here or a comment there about outsourcing etc. should not bother us," he said. "Once he is in office, he will realize that in an interconnected world, countries have to work together."
奇丹巴兰姆说：“东一句、西一句的各种评论并不会让我们担心。奥巴马就任后，他会意识到这是个紧密相连的世界。各国必须合作。”
However, some industry analysts fear that U.S. businesses, already battling an economic crisis, will reduce work sent to countries like India. Much of the work is farmed out by clients in the banking, financial services and insurance sector - many of which are hit hard by the financial meltdown.
但是，一些行业分析人士担心，已经陷于危机的美国企业可能会减少向印度的业务输出。目前，印度公司承包的很多业务是在银行和金融以及保险领域。这些领域在目前的金融危机中遭受打击最重。
Others are optimistic that any slowdown in outsourcing will be short lived. The president of Business Process Industries Association of India, Samir Chopra, says eventually economic pragmatism will prevail, ensuring that outsourcing continues to flourish.
其他人则更为乐观一些。他们认为，外包减慢是个暂时现象。电话服务中心的行业组织印度商业业务流程协会主席萨米尔.乔普拉说，经济实用主义最终会占上风，这将确保印度承包业的持续繁荣。
"There is a little bit of uneasy wariness in this entire process, but it going to be very short term. Eventually what would take over is the economics of the business ... they would have to necessarily outsource to reduce the absolute cost of doing business. So outsourcing definitely would bounce back," said Chopra.
乔普拉说：“整个行业现在都有点不安。但这将是短期的。最终，这种情绪将被商业的基本经济原理取代。这些企业必须将自己的业务外包，这样才能减少绝对成本。所以，外包一定会反弹。”
Nearly 400 of the world's 500 largest companies outsource some work to India - and a large chunk of this comes from U.S. clients. Rapid expansion in recent years has helped the technology and outsourcing sector's earnings to grow to $50 billion annually. But in recent months, growth has begun to slow, and many IT and outsourcing companies expect lower profits this year.
全球最大的500家企业当中，将近400家企业向印度外包某种业务。这些公司大部分来自美国。最近几年，技术和外包业务的迅速扩大使得印度相关企业的年收入增长到500亿美元。不过最近几个月来，增长速度开始减缓。印度很多信息技术产业和承包公司预计今年的利润将会下降。
