Date:02/03/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/03/02/stories/2005030203421500.htm
Back Great potential for India-China ventures: Goldman Sachs

Our Bureau

As opposed to the competitive environment now familiar with, there are signs to show there is great prospect of mutual cooperation.

Hyderabad , March 1

INDIA-China comparisons abound on how the land of the dragon has outsmarted India in terms of economic growth and emerged as a global manufacturing base. Little is known about the potential and the possibility of cooperation between the two emerging economic giants particularly in areas of semiconductors, electronics and emerging technology sector, according to Goldman Sachs.

The Managing Director of Goldman Sachs & Co, Mr Scott B. Kapnick, and its Managing Director of Investment Banking Division, Mr Ketan J. Patel, said that the global economies are gravitating to a common platform and areas of excellence such as the Silicon Valley and business hubs will drive the growth. This calls for a focussed development of such hubs that meet today's business demands.

"As opposed to the competitive environment now familiar with, there are signs to show there is great prospect of mutual cooperation between the two economic giants. Already a Chinese semiconductor major opened up parleys with a State Government to explore the possibility of setting up a unit with a capacity to employ 5,000 people," Mr Patel said.

Goldman Sachs officials were speaking at meeting on `Challenges for India in establishing global hub' organised by National Association of Software and Services Companies and attended by top executives from IT companies.

Referring to technology services companies, Mr Patel said even now, despite the huge growth in the services segment, real innovation and strategic tech consulting is yet to take off. "We at Goldman Sachs believe that to stay relevant, these companies need to innovate and scale up strategically."

Highlighting some of the best practices from the success stories of Nokia of Finland, Korean electronics and telecom companies Samsung, LG and SKT, Japanese electronics companies and Israeli defence driven security expertise, Mr Patel said "in order to stay competitive and relevant in global market, India has to innovate and deliver products and services that would be necessary in the market. Irrespective of various studies on diminishing competitive advantage of India over the years, it will not be easy to dislodge the advantages Indians have in terms of human resources.''

Referring to the Brics report, Mr Kapnick said Goldman Sachs revisited many of its findings and has elaborated on some of the sub-streams to analyse and expand the scope of the research. Findings reiterate that the global market place is changing and if this is any indication, India and China have great potential for growth and expansion of economies by working together.

While the policy related issues are handled better in China, the Indian Governments both Central and State need to align themselves and work as a team, as infrastructure creation is key to rapid growth. This can only happen when Government work closely with private partners.

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