Big emerging markets like China and India will play a significant role for the growth of the US software big name Autodesk, which has led to the firm's decision to set up a China-India operation, said the company's chief Carol Bartz in Beijing.

Autodesk has decided to focus on the Asia Pacific region, in addition to its current markets in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"People need to start considering China and India as a regional market," said Bartz, in an interview in Beijing.

It is unusual among multinationals to class China and India as a single organization.

The Autodesk chairwoman and chief executive said the former head of its Chinese operation Jack Gao will lead the new operation.

Gao will also be responsible for finding an Indian for the position of general manager for the Indian national market.

The move reflected Autodesk's determination to apply its experience of success in China to India.

Bartz said her company achieved 50 percent annual growth on average in the past two years in China, compared with 30 percent for the global average.

Autodesk made bold changes to its strategy in China in 2003 and has begun to invest heavily in China since Gao became the president of its Chinese operation, although many software companies have been troubled by the piracy situation in China and do not want to invest in the market.

The engineering design software firm has also opened an application development centre in Shanghai, trying to develop more tailored solutions for the local market.

China is about the fifth largest market for the US software firm, but Bartz said it could become the third after the United States and Japan and even the second in the future.

"We are just at the beginning; the Olympic Games in 2008, the development of western China, and the construction of hydropower plants will all be good news for us, as the infrastructure industry is one of our major customers," said Bartz.

Autodesk's China steering committee also had its annual conference last week in Beijing to discuss new moves in the market.

Bartz emphasized the importance of treating the Chinese and Indian markets as one entity.

She commented on the huge population in the two countries, in particular the rising middle-class, and their fast growing economies. Successes in these two markets will be a key factor for the sustained growth of Autodesk in the future, Bartz concluded.

(China Daily November 1, 2005)