TCS enters joint venture with Thailand company
The Hindu Business Line — March 13, 2008

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has formed a joint venture with the Bangkok-based Thai Re-Insurance Public Corporation (Thai Re) to set up a company called Firstech Solutions.

The joint venture company will offer IT outsourcing services using an applications service provider (ASP) model to insurance providers in Thailand, a TCS spokesperson told Business Line.

TCS will hold 20 per cent stake in Firstech, while the remaining 80 per cent will be with Thai Re, the spokesperson added. Thai Re is a professional re-insurer with Baht 2.2 billion in equity.

The joint venture company has already bagged a five-year IT outsourcing deal with Falcon Insurance, making Falcon the first insurance company to outsource using the ASP model. Thailand has become an attractive destination for TCS due to the plethora of MNCs that have set up shop in Thailand.

Separately, TCS is setting up a subsidiary in Thailand. It has received approval from Thailand's Board of Investment to invest 32 million Baht ($1,016,485) in the IT sector of Thailand, the spokesperson said.

The subsidiary will target domestic clients in the banking, telecommunication and the Government space. The spokesperson said that clients in Thailand would be served out of TCS's development centres in India. With this, Thailand becomes the 45th country where TCS has operations.