Bangalore, June 16: Bangalore IT.Com 2003, an annual event being promoted as Asia's premier ICT meet, was launched today with nations like the US, the UK and Germany already on board. "The presence of foreign countries is doubling in a big way", Karnataka information technology secretary, Vivek Kulkarni told reporters here, ahead of the formal launch by Union IT minister Arun Shourie this evening.

The five-day event starts on the sprawling palace grounds here from November one. The US, the UK, Germany, Hongkong and Belgium had already confirmed participation, officials said.

Also already on board are companies such as Infosys, TCS, Canon, BSNL and Rolta, they said.

A total of 264 companies from 16 countries participated in the fifth edition last year, according to officials of the organisers, Karnataka government and software technology parks of India.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would be among the ones on focus this year, Kulkarni said, adding, small companies would be housed next to the it nations pavilion so that they get a good opportunity to explore business tie-ups.

He said a day would be devoted for interaction between international, national and local regulators and industry players, where issues of mutual interest would be discussed.

There would also be an outsourcing summit, where industry experts would share perspective of the international market, especially the US.

Bureau Report