First office in SmartCity Kochi is of shipping industry app maker MariApps

Singapore-based MariApps Marine Solutions Private Limited, a subsidiary of Bernhard Schulte Ship management (BSM), was on Saturday the first company to open its office at the recently launched SmartCity Kochi (SCK). MariApps, with presence in Cyprus, Singapore and India, offers IT solutions to shipping and maritime industry worldwide.MariApps chose Smartcity Kochi, an IT Special Economic Zone, because it offers modern facilities to meet their growing needs, said Norbert Aschmann, CEO, BSM Group, while inaugurating the office. "SmartCity offers the best working conditions to our employees. We believe that it would motivate the employees more and thereby increase their productivity," he said.The company, which started operating in Kerala in 2010 with 40 employees, presently has 140 employees in its Kochi office. Commenting on the company's expansion plans, Sankar V. Ragavan, CEO MariApps, said the company was planning to increase the number of employees in Kerala by around 30 percent every year.BSM, is an integrated maritime solutions provider and has 1,500 employees in shore and around 17,000 on board. Another Singapore-based IT company, Singnet Solutions, will also open its office in SmartCity Kochi in the first week of June. It was in February this year that the much delayed prestigious Kochi SmartCity project was inaugurated with the opening of a 6.5 lakh square feet building.IANS