High Commission of India

Attended a luncheon, hosted by the High Commission of India in Sinagpore, which featured a panel discussion, lunch and keynote on the macro economic situation in India.

Here are some highlights from the talk:

-The India 'story' is relatively recent (especially over the last 5 years on the global scene)
-A rising economy like India is successful because of a building 'trust' factor which has been nurtured
-Since 2005, India experienced 3 consecutive years of growth at over 90% whereas China has experienced growth at around 10% for many more years
-Independence in 1947 started India out with 3.5% growth rate, which picked up in 1980's to 5.2%, break with oil crisis in 91-93 but 1994 onwards has been above 7% GDP
-Population of Indian, of working class (age 20-60) will rise dramatically but is also the demographic that will continue to save and invest, which in turn is another driver for growth
-Big worry is the recent inflation story of all emerging economies partly as a result of a global shift from single economies and central banks creating monies to now lots of central banks and injecting into the system
-Civic engagement is extremely high in India
-Population growth rate is 1.4%
-One challenge pertaining to world food shortage is India's wastage of food based on lack of appropriate storage space and inefficient means of dispersing food
-India has been majorly growing since 2005 whereas China has been growing for 20 years already