• India, China growth helping developing nations: World Bank
• Singapore for deepening ties with India
• India and sport big business for Aussie firm
• India critical for global growth: Wal-Mart

• Suzlon to expand business activity in India
• Firms from India, China submit bids
• India to become 2nd largest economy by 2039: CII

But for the rapid progress made by India and China, the pace of poverty reduction in developing countries would have been still slower after the global economic crisis, according to World Bank's lead economist. "The crisis struck just when the developing countries were making significant strides, especially in poverty. Poverty rates were falling in all regions," Delfin Go, lead author of a new World Bank report, told reporters on Friday. "Even in Africa, the rate was falling about one percent a year from the mid-nineties to about 2005. Although population was growing, the number of poor was actually decreasing because of the rapid progress in China and India," he said. The Global Monitoring Report 2010: The MDGs After the Crisis," released on Friday ahead of the two-day Bank-Fund meetings over the weekend, says as a result of the crisis, 53 million more people will remain in extreme poverty by 2015 than otherwise would have.

In South Asia, there was a very rapid decline (in poverty) because of India, Go said. "But outside of India, the rate of reduction of poverty is less, so with the crisis, they will also be harder hit than, let's say, India," he said noting "India was growing very fast even in recent months and years." "So the key driver for poverty reduction is always growth, and the way to get a quick reaction or look at what is happening at poverty, then, is to look at that big driver where economic growth is the hardest hit," Go said. "The fortunate thing about low-income countries is that although the growth rates came down for many countries, as a group, it was not negative even in 2009 at the height of the crisis." Many of the hard-hit countries were more than high-income/middle-income countries, where they depended very much on private capital flows, he said. Noting that China and India have provided some of the markets for other low-income countries, Go stressed that "the recovery of growth in developing countries will provide stimulus and a market for high-income countries." Noting there is a mutual gain in keeping low-income countries buoyant and growing in the next several years, he said developing countries need to regain the momentum in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. But they will need help in terms of development assistance, trade expansion and recovery, open access to markets, affordable private capital, and continuing strong support from international financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF, Go said.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, April 24, 2010

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Suzlon, the country's largest wind turbine manufacturers, would expand its business activity rapidly in India in the coming years, a top company official said today. The company, for the last 11 consecutive years, has captured around 50 per cent market share, by offering the concept to commissioning business model to wind energy investors in India, Suzlon Chairman and Managing Director Tulsi R Tanti told reporters here. Out of the potential 45,000 MW generation in the country, Suzlon wanted to capture majority business in the near future, he said. With over 40 sites across eight states at present, the company would enter more states, he said. Suzlon had supplied ten 1.5 MW wind turbine generators to State Bank of India, which launched its wind project today, as part of its 'green banking' initiative, Tanti said.

Courtesy: www.ptinews.com, April 23, 2010

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Singapore has developed expertise in a whole range of urban solutions such as water, sewage or waste management, low-cost public housing and transport systems management, all of which may be relevant to Tamil Nadu or Chennai, according to S. Iswaran, Singapore's Senior Minister of Trade, Industry and Education. In his interaction with senior journalists at the headquarters of The Hindu group of publications on Thursday, Mr. Iswaran referred to the collaborative venture on the Cooum river restoration project, for which the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust and the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise of the Singapore government signed a memorandum of understanding last month. In such areas, the two sides could share their experiences and derive benefits mutually, the Minister said, adding that the "long historical, cultural and linguistic ties" between Tamil Nadu and Singapore created a "natural opportunity" to work together. Following Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's visit to Singapore last year on his invitation, the framework for the collaboration was worked out. (According to the Tamil Nadu government's official documents, the MoU was signed for the preparation of a comprehensive master plan for the river restoration and the provision of technical assistance and training during implementation.)

Terming the goodwill and political relationship between Singapore and India very strong, Mr. Iswaran said the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between the two countries had created a base that facilitated a lot of growth in trade and investment flows in both directions. There had been significant deals such as Tata Steel coming and buying over Natsteel in Singapore. About 3,000 Indian businesses - small and medium sized - were incorporated and operating out of the south-east Asian country. The Singapore Telecom (SingTel) had an investment stake in Bharti. "So, I think it is happening both ways. What we need to do is really work towards the further deepening of the ties between the two countries," he said. To a query whether Singapore was open to Indian institutions setting up campuses there, the Minister replied that if quality Indian institutions were interested to come to Singapore, the Ministry of Education would be happy to engage them in a dialogue. Welcoming the State government's move to hold the World Classical Tamil Conference in Coimbatore, Mr. Iswaran said such an initiative would bring the Tamil diaspora together. Tamil groups in his country were keen to participate and they had registered themselves with the organisers of the meet. He would represent the Singaporean government at the conference. Noting that the Tamil language had a clear official backing in his country, the Minister said the Tamil-speaking community in Singapore was very focussed on the whole idea of sustaining Tamil a living language, particularly among younger generation. Later, he called on the Deputy Chief Minister and discussed the Cooum restoration project with him and senior officials of the State government.

Courtesy: www.hindu.com, April 23, 2010

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Two construction firms from India and China have submitted bids to build a second highway between Dhaka and Chittagong at an estimated cost of $4.3 billion. Soma JV of India and Sino Global Enterprise JV of China submitted the bids in response to the government's pre-qualification tender, Project Director Md Mafizul Islam said yesterday. The submission of the bids has revived the project that was stalled in 2006 when only one firm -- Malaysia-based Azimat Consortium -- submitted a bid to construct the highway. The project remained shelved since then as the rules don't allow the government to award the job to any firm if there is only one bidder. Mafizul said an evaluation committee will complete scrutinising the documents submitted by the two firms in two weeks and then appoint a consultancy firm to finalise the design of the second highway. The pre-qualification tender was floated on January 10 this year. The deadline for submission of bids was April 15. "The second highway will ensure a safe journey and a smooth flow of traffic. It will also help save fuel," said the project director. The route for the highway will be finalised soon. According to the database division of roads and highways department, the average volume of daily traffic on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway was 15,277 in 2008 while it was 13,720 in 2007. Officials in the division said the present volume of daily traffic is three times the highway's capacity. The highway has now become a death trap due to its narrowness. Traffic cannot move on it smoothly causing consumption of extra fuel. The cost of the 215-kilometre dual carriageway has been estimated at $4.3 billion including $ 1 billion for land acquisition. If constructed, it will be the country's first expressway with facilities like adequate parking space, refuelling stations, food courts and rest houses at regular intervals on either side of the highway. It will also reduce the journey time to three hours from seven to eight. The government is giving importance to the 2nd highway as the volume of traffic is on the rise, said Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain. "The upgrading of the existing Dhaka-Chittagong highway to four lanes from two lanes is underway," the minister said.

Courtesy: www.thedailystar.net, April 22, 2010

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The Queen's Baton made its way to Australian firm Middletons' Melbourne office yesterday as part of a networking event which presented an opportunity for the firm to not only host the baton before it makes its way to Delhi later this year but also promote and develop cross-border business through a common love of sport. The firm played host to the Confederation of Indian Industry's Building Business through Sport event, organised by Australian business groups such as the Australia India Business Council, of which the firm is a major sponsor. India group head Cameron Abbott said his firm understands that sport is a big business in both countries. "Both Australians and Indians love their sport including cricket and the Commonwealth Games and many a business deal has no doubt been struck while watching their beloved side win or lose." Abbott is certainly on the money. For both Australian and Indian business, India's growing population of affluent middle class will be a key part in growing their brand power through sport. For example, the brand value of the Indian Premier League is currently estimated to be around US$4.1bn (A$4.43bn). Abbott's firm is looking to play a key part in this business of sport: "Sport sometimes presents unique legal challenges, often in the context of public scrutiny that characterises all facets of professional sport," he said. "We encourage our local clients to look to India when investing or off-shoring work in India because of the similarities of our laws and that fact that India recognises copyright and trade marks - not a luxury available in many countries with a low cost manufacturing base." Abbott said he is advising a number of Australian companies, mostly in the logistics industry, going to India ahead of the Commonwealth Games. "We've assisted a couple going to India, around the transport and logistics side, and we're seeing a range of sporting organisations from cricket to football [expressing], interest in the Indian market." Past clients of the mid-tier firm's six-year old India practice have included Oxfam Australia and Monash University.

Courtesy: www.asia.legalbusinessonline.com, April 21, 2010

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Is expected to become the second largest economy within next three decades, president and Chief Executive Officer of Centennial Group and Emerging Markets Forum Harinder Kohli has said. Speaking at an interactive session with select industrial leaders from the city today, Kohli was optimistic about the fact that India, with appropriate policy frame work, would be able to grow sustainably over a period of time. To achieve its economic goals, India needs to adopt forward looking approach, he added. Elaborating on the findings of his book,'India 2039: An Affluent Society in One Generation" Kohli said that issues of energy, urbanisation, human capital development and regional prosperity of our neighbouring country are to be paid special attention to ensure that the growth movement of India is translated into the affluence of a larger section of society.

Courtesy: www.ndtv.com, April 16, 2010

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Currently working in three big economies of the world - India, China and Japan - US retail giant Wal-Mart is also keeping a close watch on South East Asia for expansion. Keen to maintain its position as a major retailer, Scott Price, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Asia said, ''We will capture 10 to 15 markets in Asia in ten years. At present, expansion plans for India alone is the full time job for us."

Price said it would be wrong to compare India and China, but India has a lot of potential as it has availability of highly educated workforce. "The retail giant would also like to increase sourcing from India for their stores all over the world," he said. "The government should take care of issues related to FDI, GST and providing infrastructure support. Wal-Mart will keep persisting because its efforts in India is critical to its global growth strategy. Confronted with saturated markets in US and other developed countries, the company needs to establish a bigger presence in emerging markets like India, where modern stores make up just 5% of the country's retail industry," Price added. Establishing good relations with farmers is the centrepiece of the company's plans. Wal-Mart, which working in a JV with Bharti group in India, is also moving towards contract farming in India, starting with their direct farm initiative, Price said. At present, the JV has tied up 110 farmers at Malerkotla which would be expanded, as they want to reduce the net food miles, the CEO said.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, April 14, 2010

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