India-China Has Distinct Business Complimentarities Which Needs To Be Tapped :
S N Menon At FICCI Meet

February 20, 2004, New Delhi : Speaking at the First Indo-China Industry & Commerce Leaders Forum, organized by FICCI in the capital today, Mr S N Menon, Special Secretary, Department of commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, highlighted the need to focus on increased cooperation in diverse fields such as agriculture and related activities, health, tourism, apart from manufacturing sectors and IT. He said "There are distinct complementarities between our two economies and we need to come together and exploit them fully to the betterment of standard of living in both countries". He was addressing a high powered 70-member Chinese business delegation representing sectors such as finance; technology; pharma; real estate; logistics; tourism; IT; chemicals and media.

Mr Menon also outlined the need to increase the number of joint ventures, foreign direct investment and greater collaboration to augment economic benefits for both the countries. "We feel that both trade and investment should go hand in hand", said Mr Menon. He assured the Indian and Chinese business leaders that both Indian and Chinese Governments are totally committed towards improving India China cooperation and provide a conducive policy environment for our trade and investment to grow and prosper together. In this regard, he said "This visit to India at this time of this delegation is a step that is a matter of great satisfaction to both our Government.

Referring to the US$ 10billion mark of trade potential between India and China, Mr Modi said that this goal appears to be rather modest keeping the rapidity with which both the economies are growing. He further added "What happens to growth in India and China matters a lot to what happens to the global growth".

In his welcome address, Mr Y K Modi, President, FICCI, pointed out that India China have already created a record by increasing its trade seven times within 4 years - from US$ 1 billion to over US$ 7 billion. He urged Chinese and Indian business leaders to focus on investment in each other's country. He said "I am hoping that investments into each other's economy will start with a billion US$ within a year. After-all, China invested US$ 14 billion abroad why not 10% of that to India into the near future".

Mr Li Jun, General Secretary, China Entrepreneurs Forum, invited Indian entrepreneurs to visit China and enter into joint venture partnerships in mutually beneficial projects. Mr Chen Zhong, Vice Chairman, China Enterprises Union and Mr Rong Hai, President, Xian Sea Star Scientech Investment Holding Co Ltd share their perspectives on the current state of entrepreneurs in China and the enterprise system that exist in the country.

Dr Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI, in his presentation, pointed out the direction that India-China relationship is evolving. He said that according to Chinese Custom Statistics that the total trade is US$ 6.6 billion for the period Jan-November 2003 while the potential is to reach US$ 10 billion by 2004-05. He underscored immense opportunities for India-China synergy which lie in moving up the value ladder. He further said that strength lies in trade creation rather than trade diversion and pointed out that some of the focus sectors such as steel, IT, engineering, construction, bio-technology, speciality chemicals, pharma, banking and tourism are to be worked upon.