Offshore heaven and offshore hell

WHAT is the best option left to ambitious countries that want to be part of the technological mainstream — and profit handsomely off it — but do not have the wherewithal to develop tech hubs like those in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv? Or do not have the resources, technical know-how or both to put up the envied chip fabrications that made Taiwan one of the most important places for sophisticated industrial production and one of the darlings of the global supply chain? Even the United States and China can't replicate the Taiwan fab model built by the legendary Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

The answer is to host global capability centers (GCCs) like the ones operating in Bengaluru. India, you see, is a country with a massive pool of tech talents. But not everybody can be Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella or Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Indian-born tech talents leading two of the world's most valuable companies. Not everybody can move seamlessly into Silicon Valley because of limited H-1B visa issuances.