A window of opportunity with China

As I put this piece together, the elections are long over and the new government is in place and they will be putting together their first budget in the present dispensation. The cabinet ministers have their task cut out for them and they have to give their ideas for the first 100 day milestones. So much so for the political stability in the country.

 A distressing fact that is emerging is the slowing down of our economy in the last few quarters. Automobiles sales are down, so is the industrial output. On the international front too with the all-out trade war between the US and China, there is uncertainty about what will happen eventually.

 Some of the labor-oriented industries like garments, footwear, light engineering, construction, electronics, toys, sports goods, will move away from China to nearby countries such as Vietnam, Srilanka, Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, etc.

 So far, India hasn't been able to garner anything substantial from this and it seems to be lagging on all fronts, whether it's a government to government transfer of technology from China in vital sectors like Defence, electronics, automobiles, etc., or, if the private sector chips in. India hasn't been able to make any dent so far and hasn't been able to convince their Chinese counterparts to set up factories over here and ship the goods to the US and other markets from India.

 In fact Bangladesh has moved in fast and has created joint ventures with a lot of Chinese OEM manufacturers in Chittagong and other SEZ.

 As a precursor to this, India's vast unemployment problem can be solved quite easily if we are able to convince the Chinese companies to invest in the country. There should be greater efforts from the Commerce Ministry and other nodal ministries to get their act together and put together a comprehensive plan to attract joint ventures from China.

 An Indo-China summit based on Trade initiatives should be called for immediately and an action plan involving the various trade bodies like the FICCI, ASSOCHAM, various Chambers of Commerce, etc.

 In spite of the 'ho-haah' on the international front and the dynamics of the Indian market, I am told by my sources that the summer season was quite at its peak even this year and we would be doing much better in sales than 2018. The demand for innerwear has risen by almost 14 to 15 per cent this summer alone. We will wait for the quarterly results soon and keep track of this and keep you informed.