Economists agree that a country with a knowledge-based economy will take global leadership in the future. However, will India participate in the global competition and be a serious contender?

By Kathan Shukla

Jun. 17 – The Indian economy, amid a global slowdown, is likely to grow by about 6% in 2013-14. However, if India wants to become a developed nation, it has to pursue scientific research.

Take the iPod for example, a product developed by Apple, an American company, but manufactured in China. The manufacturer in China receives about $4 out of the sales price of $299. The other $295 goes to component suppliers and product developers in the United States.

The country that holds patent-rights and develops global brands benefits most. If India wants to become a developed nation and compete with China and the United States, it must develop global brands. The first step in this direction is scientific research. Continue Reading

June 13 – India and Myanmar formally committed to strengthening their bilateral trade and infrastructure investment relations during last week’s World Economic Forum on East Asia.

The forum, which was held in Myanmar’s capital of Nay Pyi Taw, was the first international gathering hosted in Myanmar since the country implemented economic and political reforms in 2011. The theme was “Courageous Transformation for Inclusion and Integration.”

During the forum, India’s Union Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles Anand Sharma met with Myanmar’s Chairperson of the National League for Democracy Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss trade between the two countries. Their meetings were positive, and the two agreed on greater cooperation and cross-border investment efforts. Continue Reading

Op-Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Jun. 10 – As China and India continue to show some of the world’s fastest GDP growth rates, both are also undergoing huge demographic changes. In some ways, there are similarities between the two, yet in others, completely opposite positions exist. Understanding these subtleties is key to working out where future innovation, talent and growth will come from.

In terms of similarities, it is interesting to note that 20 years ago, the average age of a worker in China was 23. That is now the age of the average worker in India today, while the average age of a worker in China has risen to 37. So India’s current young, dynamic, and maybe somewhat undisciplined, workforce is at the same age and in similar numbers to China’s 20 years ago; the very same demographics that propelled China from 11th position in global GDP rankings 20 years ago, to 2nd position today behind only the United States. Continue Reading

By Nick Ottens

Jun. 4 – German chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday promised to intervene on China’s behalf in its dispute with the European Union over the import of solar panels, deepening an economic relationship that already accounts for nearly $200 billion in global trade.

“Germany will do what it can so that there are no permanent import duties and we’ll try to clear things up as quickly as possible,” Merkel told reporters after meeting her Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in Berlin. “We don’t believe that this will help us so we want to use the next six months intensively.”

The European Union accuses China of pricing its solar panels too cheaply at the expense of European competitors, even if they are usually heavily subsidized by their national governments as well. It is considering whether to impose punitive duties after the United States did so last year. Continue Reading

By Aryaman Bhatnagar

May 23 – India has reaffirmed its willingness to develop Iran’s Port of Chabahar during the seventeenth meeting of the India-Iran Joint Commission in Tehran. With an initial investment pledge of some $100 million, the move further strengthens the emerging partnership between the two countries in Afghanistan.

The Chabahar port is critical to India’s Afghanistan policy. In the absence of direct physical access to the country and a hostile Pakistan denying Indian goods transit, the Iranian harbor is the most viable access point India has to Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia.

India has already signed agreements with Afghanistan and Iran that grants preferential treatment and tariff reductions to Indian goods bound for Afghanistan and Central Asia at Chabahar. It has helped build the Delaram–Zaranj Highway, which connects Iran to the main Kandahar-Herat Highway in Afghanistan, as well as a road from Chabahar to the Iranian border. Continue Reading

May 22 – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has recently met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, the first trip abroad for Premier Li in an official capacity. The two world leaders discussed India-China relations, as well as penned several agreements designed to foster investment and trade between the two nations.

“The purpose of my current visit to India is three-fold; to increase mutual trust, to intensify cooperation and to face the future,” said Premier Li.

Indian officials welcomed Premier Li on his first trip oversees since taking office in March, acknowledging the importance of his visit.

“We think very highly of this gesture because it is our view that high-level political exchanges between our two countries are an important aspect and vehicle for our expanded cooperation,” said Syed Akbaruddin, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesman. Continue Reading

Three-fourths of China’s provinces reported GDP figures over RMB1 trillion (US$163 billion) in 2012

By Yao Lu

May 21 – According to preliminary data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s economy expanded 7.8 percent in 2012 amid the sluggish global economy, reaching RMB51.9 trillion (US$8.45 trillion). The growth rate, although the slowest since 1999, still beats the government’s 7.5 percent growth target. In the fourth quarter of 2012, the country’s economic growth reached 7.9 percent, putting an end to seven consecutive quarters of slowdown, up from 7.4 percent in the third quarter and 7.6 percent in the second. Continue Reading