India looms large at Davos
SWITZERLAND: India has a huge presence at this year’s Davos
meeting, with bullish bosses hailing a booming economy but warning that
creaking infrastructure and wealth gaps could yet stifle its stellar
rise.
A massive poster trumpeting investment in “Inclusive India” greeted
the 2,500 members of the global business, political and media elite at
the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at this Swiss ski resort.
India’s own power elite is out in force too, with dozens of chief
executives making the trip to the snowy peaks, including Sunil Mittal,
head of Bharti Enterprises and Azim Premji, chairman of Indian software
major Wipro.
Speaking at the forum’s opening panel, Premji hailed a “complete
shift in the balance of power” from the traditionally advanced economies
in Europe and the United States to the new powerhouses in China, India
and Latin America.
“In 10 years, the economy of the emerging world will be ... equal to
or slightly larger than the US economy,” he said. Mittal crowed: “In the
past few months, India has had visits from all the leading lights of the
world, the top five countries have visited India in the past months. 20
billion dollars in deals have been signed.”
Despite the worldwide slowdown, India has continued to surprise.
The economy grew a forecast-breaking 8.9 percent year-on-year in the
July-September 2010 quarter and the Delhi government forecasts an
expansion of 9.0 percent in the current fiscal year to March 2011.
This rapid growth has forced the central bank to hike interest rates
to their highest levels since early 2008 amid concerns about spiralling
food prices fuelling inflation, a worry evoked by several Davos
analysts.
Another persistent threat to India’s rise to global economic
powerhouse status is the challenge of modernising its creaking
infrastructure. According to a survey of some 1,200 business leaders
conducted by financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, nearly nine
in 10 said the inadequacy of India’s infrastructure was a threat to
growth.
Davos, Thursday, AFP
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