In its report titled “Emerging Asian Regionalism,” the Asian Development Bank said Asia will account for as much as 35 percent of world gross domestic product (GDP) in purchasing-power parity [PPP] terms, from only 28 percent in 2005. By then, Asia’s GDP is set to be more than 50-percent larger than the European Union’s or North America’s.

While continued growth will reinforce the region’s market-led integration, official cooperation, production and financial markets integration, economic interdependence and inclusive and sustainable growth will need to intensify based on sound economic principles.

The report highlights that Asia is less integrated in finance than in trade but financial markets are now larger, deeper, and more sophisticated than they were a decade ago. The ADB Study urges policymakers to strengthen supervision, surveillance and dialogue on financial markets through creation of a new, high-level “Asian Financial Stability Dialogue.”

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As China’s voracious demand for iron ore rises, the country demands a more stable, long term pricing policy from India.  India which currently meets 16 percent of China’s iron ore demands sells iron ore on a spot basis, allowing the price to fluctuate as demand grows. India is China’s third largest supplier, after Australia and Brazil, who supply over 60 percent of their iron ore to China at contract prices, which allowed shipping costs to remain ‘relatively stable.’

‘Last year India’s spot sales to China led to additional costs of US$838.3 million for Chinese steel makers,’ Luo Bingsheng, executive vice chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association told Forbes.

Now, China plans to take serious action to make sure iron ore prices are more stablized. China will have to consider reducing purchases of iron ore from India if Indian suppliers do not moderate their ‘over-reliance’ on spot sales, he added.

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The quest for natural gas has brought age old enemies India and Pakistan to seek an agreement, allowing a pipeline from Iran to bring energy to Pakistan and India.”I am very optimistic about the IPI (Iran, Pakistan, India) pipeline as it would go a along way in meeting India’s energy requirements in the long run,” Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora told The Hindu on Sunday. The US$7.4 billion , 2,700-km-long pipeline is scheduled to be completed by 2011 and would initially carry 600 million cubic metres of gas per day.

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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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Countries on the banks of the greater Mekong river - Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, which have been experiencing growth rates of 7 percent or more in the past decade came together over the weekend in Laos, to discuss strenghtening trade and investment ties in the region.

The subregion’s economic performance was driven in part by increased trade, resulting from the transition to market-based systems and closer integration with external markets.

The greater Mekong subregion (GMS) countries met to discuss ways and means to increase intra-regional trade. On Monday, Xinhua reported that over the last few years, trade has expanded both within and outside the subregion. Over the period 1994-2006, intra-GMS exports, excluding to China, grew at an annual average rate of 19 percent, while exports to other countries increased at an annual average rate of 11 percent.

Regional cooperation within the GMS framework has seen advances in transportation, telecommunications, trade, tourism, and agriculture.

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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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