Cisco today announced that they have chosen India as the center of their next globalization strategy. The announcement was made by John Chambers, Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, during a two-day visit to India.

John Chambers stated that “Cisco chose India as the location from which to expand its globalization vision because India has a highly skilled workforce, supportive government, innovative customers and world-class partners that already have global capabilities.”

Chambers believes that India’s best minds have a unique opportunity to compete on a global basis. According to him, India’s economy is currently livelier than it has ever been.

Chambers also added that “India's CEOs as well as their government understand the value of communications and IT and how the network becomes a strategic business tool to enable them to compete on a global scale. While IT spending among Indian companies remains low compared with their counterparts in the US, we expect significant growth in this area given their interest to remain competitive, especially in the services sector.”

In addition, Cisco also created a new post today, known as Chief Globalization Office (CGO). The first ever of its kind, Wim Elfrink was appointed to the position by Chambers. He is expected to be relocated to Bangalore, India in January 2007 and will report directly to John Chambers.