The economic powerhouses - India, China and Brazil are not just guzzling oil and gulping steel, they are also minting millionaires. The rich are getting richer - the number of millionaires jumped 22.7 percent in India last year, 20.3 percent in China and 19.1 percent in Brazil, according to the 12th annual World Wealth Report, prepared by US investment bank Merrill Lynch and information technology group Capgemini. On the whole, the number of millionaires worldwide rose 6 percent last year to 10.1 million.

The report which highlights the rising clout of emerging market countries on the global financial stage, attributed the increase in such areas to gains in commodity exports, “paired with growing international acceptance of emerging financial centers as significant global players”, AFP reported.

Emerging markets also figured prominently in initial public offerings last year, during which more than 1,300 IPOs raised about 300 billion dollars. Emerging markets captured seven of the top 10 issues, the study said.

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Continuing on yesterday’s theme of Asian fashion fetishes and luxury brand indulgences here’s a look into how the biggest brand in tennis - Wimbledon is cashing in on Asia’s nouveau riche, and how China and India, with their fast-growing economies, have provided a fertile ground for Wimbledon in an ambitious bid to export its distinctive brand right around the globe.

“Europe is a very mature market and it is very difficult to introduce the Wimbledon brand in depth there. Asia is a land of opportunity,” McCowen told Reuters.

“This is the fastest expanding market in the world for merchandising. Asia is booming,” said Wimbledon marketing director Robert McCowen.

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Continuing India’s trend of spreading its wings globally, Ratan Tata’s IT and telecommunications business, Tata Communications, signed an equity joint venture with shareholders of China Enterprise Communications Ltd (CEC) to acquire a 50 percent stake in the Chinese firm for an undisclosed amount, reuters reported.

The joint venture, signed through Tata Communication’s subsidiary, Tata Communications International, will provide networking services to domestic enterprises and MNCs in China.

“Emerging markets is a focus area for TC. China is a market we have been exploring for over a year now. We entered into a commercial relationship with China Enterprise Netcom Corporation (China Entercom) earlier this year. Our intention now is a strategic entry into that market, which is considered bigger than India for broadband and other services,” TC’s senior vice-president (corporate strategy) Srinivasa Addepalli told the Economic Times at a media briefing in Mumbai.

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Asia is becoming a hot bed for nuclear energy. With fuel prices soaring through the roof , US, French, Russian and Canadian companies are exploring nuclear energy in Asia as an alternate energy source.

General Electric, Daewoo and Toshiba are among companies looking to win big contracts in Southeast Asia. A report by the world nuclear association last year said that through to 2010 projected new power generating capacity in Asia is approximately 38 GWe per year, and from 2010 to 2020 it is 56 GWe/yr, up to one third of this replacing retired plant. This is about 36 percent of the world’s new capacity (current world capacity is about 3500 GWe, of which 368 GWe is nuclear). Much of this growth will be in China, Japan, India and Korea. The nuclear share of this to 2020 is expected to be at least 39 GWe and maybe more if environmental constraints limit fossil fuel expansion.

There are currently 109 nuclear power reactors operating in six countries of the region, 18 units under construction and firm plans in place to build about another 40 units.

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Did China miss an opportunity when they reorganized their telecoms last week? Robert Clark of BusinessWeek thinks so. He says that the reshuffling has been so domestically focused that it has missed the chance to prepare China Mobile and China Unicom, China’s two largest mobile phone operators, to become global players.

The pieces of China’s telecom reorganization have fallen into their well-telegraphed place. But the exercise has been wholly focused on the domestic market with the aim of bringing China Mobile back to Earth. What it really misses is the chance to prep Mobile and rival China Unicom to become global carriers.

Clark points out that the most growth in the mobile phone industry is coming from the emerging markets – Africa, India and Southeast Asia. American, European and India mobile operators are already trying to situate themselves in these markets. Bharti Airtel—India’s biggest mobile service provider—recently tried to acquire Africa’s largest provider, MTN. (more…)

The pharmaceutical business is tilting towards Asia. The region is being hailed as ‘the pharmaceutical hub’, and most multinational and domestic companies in the region believe it is inevitable that Asia will soon be leading the pharma market, reported pharmaceutical technology.

India, China and Singapore are expected to become leaders in the pharmaceutical sector. India and China have become major suppliers of APIs, with India also exporting high volumes of pharmaceutical dosage products. South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong are also creating strong pharmaceutical bases, although these markets are mainly dominated by MNCs.

More clinical trials are also being conducted in Asia and India has taken the lead in clinical trial outsourcing. Asia is now returning to GDP levels of the 19th century when it was at its highest (12%). According to Goldman Sachs, India is expected to become the world’s third largest economy by 2050.

Many MNCs are investing and building their businesses in China and India, and it is expected that total pharmaceutical sales in China (at current levels of approximately $14 billion [€9 billion]) will double to $28 billion (€18 billion) by 2010.

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India China trade seems to me to be soaring like a kite tied to the ground.

While both countries celebrate having achieved a trade target of US$40billion set for 2010 in 2008, there are still only 120 companies of Indian origin registered wth the Indian embassy in Beijing, and even fewer companies of Chinese origin registered with the Chinese embassy in New Delhi.

While businessmen in both countries express a desire to do business in the other, barriers - social, political and financial seem to be keeping them at bay. Of the difficulties that Chinese firms face while doing business in India, Reuters reported - Chinese firms have found profits in India hard to come by. Tax barriers are everywhere, eroding their cost advantages. Corruption is rampant, adding another layer of difficulty. And Chinese goods have a low-quality image that is very hard to shake.

The challenges are not unique to India. Most are exactly what western companies encountered when they first arrived in China some 20 years ago. But Chinese companies, whose success so far has been largely built on their home-court advantage and low costs, are much less prepared to tackle those issues. 

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More than a century after Mahatma Gandhi went to South Africa, and a decade after China began to woo the rich continent for its natural resources, foreseeing the need for energy, India is following suit. The India-Africa Forum Summit, to be inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh will begin tomorrow.

The meet is being attended by Heads of States of 14 African nations, who have the mandate of the entire continent as they have been chosen by the 54-nation African Union itself, the Hindu reported.

During the two-day summit India is likely to announce technology transfers and duty cuts for certain imports from Africa and assistance in developmental projects while striving to tap the immense mineral resources in that continent.

An Action Plan for furthering cooperation in areas like environment, health, education, energy and mining will be issued at the Summit, which could form a precursor for broader India-Africa Summit.

The Summit is also expected to issue a Declaration that will address broader areas of cooperation and “common views” on regional and international issues, including fight against terrorism, climate change and WTO negotiations.

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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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India and China may be the flavour of the world markets, but when it comes to performance of their stock exchange indices in 2008, they are doing the worst in Asia. While the Bombay Stock Exchange’s National Index (popularly known as BSE 100 Index) dipped by 16.08% during the first two months of 2008, the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Shanghai A Index slipped as much as 17.36% during the same period.

A comparison of major market indices in Asia by Thomson Financial reveals that none of the indices posted positive returns during the said period. The best performing index during the period was Jakarta Se Composite, which declined by less than 4% during the said period. Click on chart to enlarge.

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