Having just returned from a two week business trip to India, I was struck by a number of contrasts to Canada- apart from the mass of humanity, and the concomitant challenges. The overwhelming impression I left with was one of immense optimism and a willingness to look outward, two important traits that Canadian businesses need to acquire.
The GDP growth for 2009-10 in India is projected to be in the range of 6-6.5%. In addition, the number of post secondary school graduates in engineering is over 250,000 annually, and there are over 200 million college graduates already, out of a total skilled workforce of 500 million people. The Indian middle class is over 300 million people and growing at about 7% annually. The domestic market has become the largest consumer of goods and services, and has over 400 million cell phone users- this is in addition to a very strong export balance. Most importantly, there is a tremendous sense of confidence that the opening of markets to foreign investment has ushered in over the last 18 years. Many senior managers of Indian companies have been trained in either Europe or the US, and have taken a conscious decision to move back to India to participate in what may be a once in a lifetime opportunity. The strong post-secondary educational linkages established with both the US and Europe, and now Australia, are bringing dividends to those countries not enjoyed by Canada.
While the speed of decision- making at the government level can be quite slow, companies are moving at lightning speed, and now see China as more of an economic competitor than the US. In India, business leads government policy. The epicentre of global trade and business model innovation has most definitively shifted to India and China, and there are huge opportunities for Canadian companies to benefit from this- but the timing is now, and the window is shrinking rapidly.
Indian companies in the cleantech, water, energy, infrastructure, health technologies, advanced materials, agri-food and telecom sectors are aggressively pursuing partnership and investment opportunities globally. However, Canada still needs to work hard to get the attention of Indian companies and leaders. Despite significant success in India by such Canadian giants as Sunlife, RIM, Bombardier and SNC Lavalin, there is still a mystery about Canada within business circles in India. Brand Canada is not strong.
Canadian companies, especially in the priority sectors mentioned above, need to have a focused strategy on India, to take advantage of the immediate and longer term growth opportunities that exist, within the next 18 months. While the US economy is at its dusk, the Indian economy is at its dawn, but many other countries are already far ahead of where Canada needs to be in engaging Indian companies in serious dialogue. If we don’t act now, we may not have a second chance. The next generation will belong to the economies of India and China; and given the innovative technologies that have been developed in Canada, the time is right to leverage linkages with India for significant mutual benefit.
Hari Venkatacharya
Serial Entrepreneur
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