Today being world Earth Day, its only fit we discuss the next big environmental crisis to hit Asia - e-waste or electronic waste. With consumerism on the rise, the rate at which we buy and dispose off mobile phones, Tv’s, laptops, PC’s, refrigerators etc is only making the problem of e-waste worse for Asia.

The star.com reported that despite international agreements that prohibit the import and export of hazardous waste, shipments of broken electronic devices continue to pour into the harbours of Kenya, India and China.The reason is strictly financial. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates it’s up to 10 times cheaper to export e-waste than to dispose of it domestically.

About 150,000 people are employed by the e-waste industry in Guiyu, China, and 25,000 more work in the scrapyards of New Delhi, India. The gold, silver, copper, aluminum and other metals salvaged become a vital resource for the manufacturing of new items. A typical wage for the arduous, dangerous work is $2 to $4 a day.

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India and China’s growth in trade is having a ripple effect in the areas of consumer goods, art and tourism. Over the last few months, several large shopping malls, trade shows and exhibition centers in Beijing and Shanghai have been displaying the richness and diversity of India.

In 2007, over half a million visitors were exchanged between India and China. These included over 4,62,450 visitors from India to China, a year-on-year rise of 48 percent and about 68,000 Chinese visitors came to India, a 14 percent increase compared to the year before. In 2005, India received 46, 805 tourists from China while 6,29,947 Indian tourists traveled to China during the same year. (more…)

The Indian Embassy will start an India Tourism Office in Beijing on Monday the 7th of April. The ITO in Beijing follows the successful opening of the China Tourism Office in New Delhi in August last year. The inauguration will also coincide with Ms Ambika Soni - Indian Minister of Tourism and Culture’s visit to Beijing and Shanghai and a week long food festival in both Beijing and Shanghai. The tourism office will be responsible in promoting India as a tourist destination in China.

People are at the heart of any relationship. China’s outbound tourism sector has skyrocketed in recent years, with the number of Chinese traveling to India reaching 68,000 last year and the number of Indians flying to China almost seven-times that totaling more than 462,000. Comparatively, the number of Chinese going abroad reached 37.5 million in 2007, up from 34 million in 2006, and 12 million in 2001. China has surpassed Japan to become the biggest source of outbound tourists in Asia.

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Kamal Nath, India’s Minister of Commerce provides his comments on how to maintain India’s growth and what lies ahead.

The full interview with Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Senior Partner, Dezan Shira & Associates in Delhi

Kamal Nath is the third of the big three of Indian foreign politics – after Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Chidambaram, who we interviewed yesterday, and Kamal Nath, the charismatic and globe trotting Minister of Commerce. Together, these men represent the unified force of a resurgent India, united in views and passion for the country, and amongst the most recognizable Indian politicians around the world, these are globe trotting reformists, determined to battle the negativity of coalition politics and underpin India’s long awaited position at the high table of world trade. In this frank discussion, Mr. Nath touched on many issues, but especially the desire to get government out of the way and allow the private sector to flourish.

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India’s Finance Minister lays down his reasoning India will escape a US recession, plus comments of Indian Government Corruption.

The full interview with Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Senior Partner, Dezan Shira & Associates in Delhi

Meeting with India’s Finance Minister, Mr. P. Chidambaram, is always a lesson in elocution and delivery. One year ago, when we last met him in our annual series of meetings with Indian Ministers in Delhi, he was shy, somewhat reserved, yet bullish. India was doing well, with growth rates at a consistent level of between 7-9% looking sustainable, and the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, stating to us that as long as India could keep such growth rates, it could afford it’s massive redevelopment, infrastructure and rural expenditure needed to lift the country into a true democracy with all people able to share in it’s wealth. “As long as those rates are sustainable” both the PM and Mr. Chidambaram chorused, “India’s continued development is assumed”.

Just a year on, we are faced with a different set of issues that could impact upon the Indian, and quite possibly, other emerging market economies, especially that of China. The US sub-prime crisis has dried up liquidity and seen money vanish. The US dollar is approaching record lows. The price of gas has just exceeded USD100 a barrel, respected international financial institutions are going bankrupt, and the prices of commodities in foods and metals have doubled and tripled. A year on, it’s not just a matter of India bullishness. A large blot has appeared on the landscape.

Sitting down with Mr. Chidambaram we had just one question to ask in our hour long discussion: “Can India escape a potential US recession ?”

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India’s State Secretary for Civil Aviation, Ashok Chawla provides his blue print for development and investment

Interview with Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Senior Partner, Dezan Shira & Associates in Delhi

The number of India’s total domestic passengers has doubled in just five years, and is set to expand even more rapidly. With more airports per square mile than any other Asian nation, a legacy of the British, much however needs to be done to upgrade, improve, and rebuild Indian airport capacity as anyone who has arrived at Mumbai or Delhi international airports well knows. But beyond the surface veneer of construction in progress, shabby terminals and dodgy washrooms, a revolution is occurring.

Ashok Chawla:
India has over 450 airports nationally, of which about 90 are currently operational. In conjunction with the Ministry of Urban Development (see other interview) we are highlighting a number of domestic airports for development which have a key strategic development role to play. However, firstly let me explain that all airports were previously managed by the Airports Authority of India, and that this has now changed. The AAI is now involved in two main models for airport infrastructure development. These are:

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The State Secretary for the Ministry of Urban Development Details His Roadmap

By Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Senior Partner, Dezan Shira & Associates, Delhi

Often the first thing that is mentioned about India today – especially when compared to China – is the shocking state of much of its infrastructure. The problem is estimated to cost India about 2% of its GDP growth, and to be serious enough to potentially derail the development of the entire economy. We met with State Secretary Shri M Ramachandran, of the Ministry of Urban Development, for his views on what needs to be done, and how it is going to be achieved.

Chris Devonshire-Ellis with Shri M Ramachandran State Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development 

Ramachandran:
“Firstly, we have identified several areas of immediate concern to us in national redevelopment. These include:
Provision of drinking water
Waste management and drainage
Water management
Transportation
Housing

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The third ministerial meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) hosted by India commenced on March 3, 2008 in New Delhi. Although SAARC - The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation, comprising India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Pakistan, hasn’t had the desired impact that NAFTA (North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement) has made, changes are clearly in the pipeline.

Business Line spoke to the Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh, on a range of issues that have hobbled this grouping from achieving tangible gains. Ramesh had visited Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and is due to visit Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Afghanistan before end-June 2008.

“India’s globalisation is incomplete without closer engagement in South Asia. India cannot do bypass surgery on South Asia-this notion in India that we can be a global player and couple our economy with the American economy bypassing our own neighbours - we can’t couple with America and decouple from South Asia - is not possible. We need to understand that the foundation of our globalisation rests on closer regional cooperation in goods, services and, most importantly, in investments,” Ramesh said.

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China - India investment questions and comparisons to be raised

Mar. 18 - The Senior Partner of Dezan Shira & Associates, Chris Devonshire-Ellis, who publishes China Briefing, India Briefing and the emerging Asia website 2point6billion.com, will meet next week with Kamal Nath, the Indian Minister of Commerce, and Mr. P. Chidambaram, the Minister of Finance, in New Delhi.

This pre-empts his annual meetings with Chinese government leaders which are scheduled for this May. Last year’s summary of meetings with China’s officials can be accessed here.

Chris will be reporting on issues arising from these talks on 2point6billion.com next week, please subscribe to that site (complimentary) if you require copies of these.

He has also kindly offered to raise important questions on China-India trade or investment directly with Mr. Nath and Mr. Chidambaram on behalf of our subscribers and readers. If you have questions you would like him to pose to the ministers please email him directly at ministerialmeetings@dezshira.com. Replies will be confidential.

Four days after India, the world’s fourth largest military, raised its defence spending by 10% to $26.5 billion for 2008-09 or about 2.5% of its GDP, China, the world’s largest standing force upped its defence budget by 18% to a whopping $58.4 billion, or 1.4% of its GDP. What Beijing did not mention is that India’s military expenses at $26.18 billion (Rs 105,600 crores) is less than half of China’s expenditure in absolute terms, although it might seem higher as a percentage of GDP.

The spurt in defence spending also comes at a time when China claims parts of Arunachal Pradesh (90,000 square kms), in India’s far East to be part of China. China is now also considered a formidable force by the US, who believe that Beijing’s real military spending is two or three times the announced figure.

Justifying the jump in defence budget ‘because other countries were doing it too’, Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature said “military expenses accounted for 14.1 per cent of India’s overall spending while China spent just 7.2 per cent of its total budget on defence. Developed countries spent a lot more with the United States allocating 4.6 per cent of its GDP to defence and Britain spending three per cent of its GDP, he said. The figure for France is 2 per cent and Russia 2.63 per cent of GDP.

Adding, “China’s limited armed forces are totally for the purpose of safeguarding independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity”. “China will not pose a threat to any country.”

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