Investment firm sponsors talk on China-India trade

 

The seminar on China-India trade and investing in India was held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations. Photo provided by Dezen Shira & Associates

 

By Liang Meilan

A seminar on China-India trade and investing in India held May 27 emphasized that both countries will be key to the growth of multinationals in the next decade.

The event, titled “Discussing the Opportunities of Asia’s Top Economic Powerhouses,” was sponsored by foreign-investment advisory firm Dezan Shira & Associates to celebrate the 60th anniversary ofe establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Chris Devonshire-Ellis, the firm’s founder, said China and India will provide at least 10 percent growth for multinationals in the next decade and that foreign investments in both counries should be expanded. To miss out on India now “would be the equivalent of ignoring the China market 15 years ago,” he told his audience of 200“The currently low Indian GDP ratio compared to China is not a eflection of the economic distance between the two countries. A rebalancing is taking place,” Devonshire-Ellis said, adding that a growing number of projects in India illustrates that the South Asian economy’s fortun are on the rebound and that it is catching up fast with China.

India’s GDP is now 25 percent of China’s, down 64 percent from 1990 owing to the divergent “paths each country took over the following two decades,” he said.

Devonshire-Ellis singled out infrastructure development as India’s most important focus: “$500 billion (3.4 trillion yuan) is being spent on infrastructure in the next years alone,” he said.

Manjeet Kripalani, executive director of Indian foreign policy think tank Gateway House, compared the two countries’ expansion overseas, specifically to Africa, where they have managed to penetrate the supply chain in the past 10 years.

Mark Hannant, founder of the Engage Group, Britain’s leading communications consultancy, described India’s bureaucracy as “awkward,” based on his experience of setting up business in the country.

At the same time, he credited India’s well-trained and highly skilled human resources for making the country a global econoic power. “With overseas Indians increasingly returning to India rather than seeking opportunities in the West, a new generation of Indians has emerged on the back of parents who built a nation from independence, and tat ‘can do’ attitude of modern Indians is creating a business elite that would have a global impact,” Hannant said.

The event also doubled as a book launch for Dezan Shira & Associates?Doing Business in India, which provides a thorough analysis of India, a comprehensive guide to investing in the country as well as key demographics, business opportunities and infrastructure in each region.

It includes information on foreign direct investment trends, business establishment procedures, economic zone information, labor and tax considerations and an analysis of Indian business etiquette and culture. The book also details procedural, operational and tax differences between India and China.

Copies of the book and its PDF version are available from Asia Briefing Bookstore on asiabriefingmedia.com/store/.