InnoMetrics is a review of latest economic, business and market numbers in one page. Today we look into India’s key strengths and opportunities as a regional and global players.

 

In light of partnerships and developments driven by India on a local, regional and global point of view, analysts and innovators try to understand the mechanics, the moves, the sway of a dance which can lead performers in front of the stage, right in the spotlight. Achieving to turn current opportunities into exemplary results is also painted as a difficult figure and posture to hold. The dance requires flexibility, will and perhaps this little bit of magic that only dancers can create. They make us want to dance as well. In Indian classical dance, “a performance is considered accomplished if it manages to evoke a rasa(emotion) among the audience by invoking a particular bhava (gesture or facial expression)” as reminds Wikipedia”. While this presentation of the traditional symbols infer a link and a discourse with the public, a dialog transmitted through body moves, it also inspires another definition of partnership. Combining moves so they make impact, following a defined choreography, knowing the steps, sharing the lines. Helping partners echo the message in their own way.

 

Partners of choice

 

The colourful tableau rolls out a myriad of players, from the inner circles in the Asian region, to outer circles in the globalized economy. Olivier Harmant from The French Web mentions Indonesia and the new Tokopedia platform launched in the country with the support of Softbank. Through Finextra, MasterCard reminds how important the Islamic regions of South-East Asia is important to the company, which has therefore nominated a new Country Manager for Malaysia and Brunei. Sarah Burh from TechCrunch highlights the technological developments of Japan and their recent trials of their own levitating train for Central Japan Railway Company. Samir Makwana from Tech In Asia, reports on Xiaomi’s new smartphone launch in India. As he says, “Xiaomi’s plans to expand to 100 service centers across India. Last week, fellow China-based handset maker Gionee also launched two budget 4G smartphones for India.”

 

In Singapore, Eileen Yu explains that the country needs help to deploy communication services in the workplace. As she mentions in her article for ZDNet, “End-users now play a critical role in IT deployment and adoption, which means organizations cannot afford to ignore their demands, especially in the current environment where employees are more aware than ever about the technology available to them.” Reuters highlights on Re/Code Singapore’s decision to regulate Uber types of services to allow a fair activity roll-out, opening doors to the digital economy.  PTC announced a major partnership advance with the University of Tokyo. “The team also succeeded in keeping a goat alive for 532 days with a pneumatically-driven Total Artificial Heart that consists of a blood circulation pump and a power unit outside the body, which is still the longest worldwide survival record for Total Artificial Heart animals”, they detail in the article.

 

Finally, China. Gordon Orr, from McKinsey, has written a handy guidebook highlighting the key success drivers to address the Chinese market and partner with the promising growth of the country, despite or perhaps thanks to an allegedly declining increase. He does outline the many opportunities the country offers, but also points to challenges. For instance, he explains how “The Chinese middle class—the people who are buying new homes, who today are buying 18 million cars a year (delivering a third of the global auto industry’s profits), and who are starting to spend more on services—are critical. Only if they remain confident in their personal economic future will they continue to increase their spending and become a larger driver of economic growth.” As explained in our latest Politics and Economics analysis, “Emerging markets: from local to global“, structural challenges need to be overcome before envisaging a level of “confidence” able to sustain regional partnerships. Executing the dance requires synchronization, a perfect match between the moves, between energies.

 

 

A fragile balance

 

It may not be easy, although quite simple. Everything is a question of balance, a collaborative balance that holds on to individual equilibrium. This is where the core issues remain. As Reuters reminds “Baidu Inc  posted a less-than-expected 52 percent surge in third-quarter revenue, even as mobile traffic for China’s dominant Internet search engine continued to grow.” In the Wall Street Journal, Bob Davis wonders: “Western business people and international economists in China warn that the government’s GDP statistics are accurate only as an indication of direction, and the direction of the Chinese economy is plainly downward. The big questions are how far and how fast.” At the same time, Finextra reminds that “China is finally preparing to put an end to China UnionPay’s monopoly on clearing bank card transactions in a move that could open up a huge market to Visa and MasterCard.” Terry Tamminen explains in Fast Co-Exist that even if China has recently committed to reduce CO2 emissions, a number of investments still need to occur to enable the country infrastructure to sustain this goal. The Economist outlines the need for specific structural reforms, such as the inheritance law. A change crucially needed now that China is ramping up the global economy ladder. Jeffrey D Sachs from Project Syndicate reminds that “African leaders view China as their countries’ new indispensable growth partner, particularly in infrastructure and business development..”

 

As a reminder, this is nothing specific to China. J.O.S from The Economist fears that “investors have fallen out of love with emerging markets. Since the start of last year emerging-market stocks have trailed their rich-world peers”. Vivek Wadhwa explains in The Washington Post that despite his initial feeling as an Indian native that the economy would never improve, he has recently presented an analysis claiming the India might actually role-model in economic innovation in the coming decades. Some change is needed in India as well. Nidhi Sanhi reminds in HBR that health services in India remain an opportunity as much as it should be a priority. The way they are currently being challenged by non-profit is also a learning model for other countries. For India is looking for solutions. @indiacom explains how “the objective of the Trade and Investment Partnership Summit (TIPS) is to create awareness on international business opportunities and feasibility of cross-border expansion for Indian and European businesses.”

 

ITSM provides key highlights from recent PwC analysis on India’s opportunities and threats. In their article on ITP Report, they outline the key strategies that will bring India to sustainable growth, as recommended by PwC. In the report called “Future of India – The Winning Leap”, PwC stresses that “’The Winning Leap’ should not be limited to a new approach or solution but rather needs to be seen as a ‘play-to-win’ mind set shift for industry leaders and the country overall”. They suggest a strategy to achieve this goal: “Creating flexible and adaptive operations model, Drawing on non-traditional resources and partnerships, Adapting a growth and innovation mind set, Focusing on accountability, integrity and sustainability”. The full report is available for free download within the source article. Does this report imply that Western based companies know better how to dance? One could argue that they can tell for sure where a failed dance leads to, which is sufficient enough to help India find their own balance, creating their own steps.

 

 

Synchronizing the ballet

This approach requires learning. Since at this stage no one is granted the ability to favor a dance rather than another, performers will have to learn together. As DHANYA ANN THOPPIL from The Wall Street Journal outlines, the U.S. have recently announced a series of immigration measures that would enable more foreign workers and students to work in the country. Luis Buenaventura compares the Philippines mobile payment system from Globe called GCash to the Kenyan equivalent M-Pesa. Julien Bouissou from Le Monde relates the kiss-revolution story that shakes Southern India. Refusing to roll-out key reforms has an economic impact, as Michael Schuman from TIME Magazine explains for Japan: “While the BOJ kept its printing presses rolling, dramatically weakening the value of the yen, badly needed deregulation and market-opening has come extremely slowly.” Mitsuru Obe from The Wall Street Journal provides further details on the 1.6% shrink of Japanese economy in Q3 2014. As the author suggests, “Weaker demand for consumer durables, such as automobiles and appliances, were behind the slow growth, indicating that consumers are still struggling to cope with the tax increase.” The Economist reminds that India has recently signed a food security agreement with the U.S. They conclude: “The agreement on food security issues supports our view that Mr Modi’s government will pursue a more muscular foreign policy than its predecessor, placing equal emphasis on the country’s economic and security interests in the international sphere.”

 

The Economist reminds the weight of poorly led reforms on monetary policy. Support, transparency, dedication if not obstination, these are the top monetary tools for the future of India. “The central bank’s lack of transparency has sown confusion. “The more policy tools you have, the harder it is to predict changes in any one of them,” says Song Yu of Goldman Sachs.”, writes the Economist.  Stephen S Roach reminds in project Syndicate that “China’s economy is caught in the crossfire of structural and cyclical headwinds. Structural pressures have arisen from the shift to a new model of services- and consumer-led growth, and cyclical pressures stem from a tough global environment that has put downward pressure on the old model of export and investment-led growth.” Natalie Lehrer from Smart Collective Data reports that “A plethora of websites including a popular content distribution network is currently inaccessible inside of China.” Simon Zadek reminds for China Dialogue that “climate is not an isolated phenomenon; it is an integral part of the broader transition to sustainable development. The UN Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing has highlighted the need to finance infrastructure, healthcare and education, access to energy and gender equality, and global public goods such as biodiversity and climate-change mitigation, to meet post-2015 development goals.” As he concludes: “Making any climate deal work in practice depends on having a financial system that is able to respond and allocate capital towards sustainable development.” Dexter Roberts from Business Week reminds about the urgency of actions needed to even provide sufficient clean water to Chinese population.

 

Unfolding on stage, the moves and choreography tell a story. It is one of many dreams, one of many challenges. One last question remains. Is the story going to repeat again, or are new dancers taking the contest to the next level?