World, in particular the developed world in the West, can no longer afford to ignore India and China at least in terms of their economic power, the ADAG chief, Mr Anil Ambani, has said.
Achieving a growth of 8-9 per cent per annum at a sustained pace on a long-term basis is a real possibility, Mr Ambani said at a panel discussion on ‘The Shifting Global Economy and Implications for Trade’ being held on the sidelines of the annual conference of the US Exim Bank here.
Achieving such a growth rate — a reality in India and China — is “impossible” in the United States and other developed countries of the world. At the same time, he said there are challenges which India has to address on a priority basis.
There is need for creating infrastructure, intellectual, physical and social, which would be the prime movers of India’s growth.
The ADAG chief said there is a great opportunity for US companies coming to India. With nearly 100,000 Indian students coming to the US every year, Mr Ambani said, in the years to come, a large number of Indians would think and live like Americans.
“Indian savings would go down and credit card economy would boom,” he said, adding that in a globalised economy, Asia, in particular countries such as India and China present huge business opportunities to US companies.
Mr Arvind Subramanian, senior fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, agreed and said the world can no longer ignore India and China, which by 2030 would be among the top three largest economies of the world.
“China is already the biggest economy, trader and net banker in the world. It’s a world where the US can no longer take its economic preeminence for granted,” he said.
Mr Ambani praised the Chinese effort of increasing its business and economic relationship with India. India, he said, is the largest trading partner of China, a place, which was earlier occupied by the US.
India is a young country compared to China. In less than a decade from now, more than half a billion people would be less than 30 years of age, he said.