Kerala could have been another Taiwan, says Zoho boss Vembu

The billionaire industrialist Sridhar Vembu, the CEO of Zoho Corporation, has flagged the flight of talented youth from Kerala to other States and other countries despite the State holding the potential to become another Taiwan. 

His comments came in response to a tweet by Thomas Isaac, former Kerala Finance minister and senior Communist Party of India (M) leader, who highlighted the recent success of the Student Federation of India (SFI) in college union elections across Kerala.

Mr. Vembu, who built his multi-billion software empire in a village near Thenkasi in Tamil Nadu after relocating his business from the US, noted cryptically: “Kerala could be as rich as Taiwan, if only...” The incomplete sentence indirectly blames the policies followed by the State governments in Kerala, particularly the Communist-led ones. 

Kerala's brain drain

"I hope Comrade Isaac reflects on why after college large numbers of talented youth are leaving Kerala for other States in India or go abroad for jobs and Kerala-born entrepreneurs are not creating much-needed jobs in Kerala, but elsewhere."

Mr Vembu advised Mr. Isaac, who is also a former economics professor, to learn from the work of the late Chinese strongman Deng Xiaoping. "Comrade Isaac should also study paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and why Deng had Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore as (his) key advisor." Mr Vembu added: "I studied both Le and Deng very closely for many years; many important lessons there."

Deng Xiaoping was the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1978 to 1989, taking over after the 1976 death of Mao Zedong. He is credited with leading China through a period of economic reform that transformed China's economy into a socialist market economy. China is now the No.2 global economic power after the US. Lee Kwan Yew was the prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. Mr Lee is widely respected for his leadership in transforming Singapore into a highly developed country.

Vembu's political views

Sridhar Vembu, founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation, started his career as a wireless engineer in the US after graduating from IIT Madras. Mr Vembu, who was awarded the Padmasree by the Narendra Modi government in 2021, has often been criticised for his pro-BJP-RSS connection.