The future: China and India (original title I know!)

An event I attended tonight reminded me of just what a force India and China and especially the people of those countries are going to be over the next century.   My job affords me occasional encounters with Chinese or Indian businessmen or diplomats.  Including tonight, three notable occasions stick in my mind:  

1. Arun Sarin CEO of Vodafone speaking at a CBI India Roundtable last October told the audience how Vodafone had gone into India in order to exploit the market opportunities, but had actually extracted more valuable results from India in learning from the business processes that the Indian part of the organisation had adopted.  He told us that the average cost per minute to Vodafone of a phonecall minute in Europe was 14 cents, in India it was 3 cents.  He said that only 30% of this difference could be accounted for by labour costs, the rest was a result of the way they had outsourced and configured their operations.  The inimitable Vijay Malia, self styled Indian Richard Branson, spoke at the same event and gave us a display of Indian self confidence and some enlightening insights into the fiercly and outwardly aspirational Indian middle-class.

2. On a work trip to the WTO earlier this year I met with the Indian and Chinese Ambassadors to the WTO.  Both gave the same message; we are not going to be dictated to by US and EU political agendas.  The impressive Indian ambassador clearly stated that their domestic politics and poor were far more important than any abstract notion of global public goods, or the benefits of free trade.   The Chinese were the major surprise however.  Not only was their ambassador massively on top of the detail as expected, but he was positively jovial, having my delegation of European Business representatives in stiches and almost goading us about how China didn't need a trade deal while it was growing annually at 10%+.

3. So tonight, arguably not as major names but still significant stories, and stories that show that even in a low-carbon economy India and China will give us more than a run for our money. Rajeev Dubey told us about Mahindra and Mahindra , a farm equipment and do everything conglomerete from India. The firm is in the process of innovating a 100% biodiesel tractor, working on low-carbon joint ventures with BT and Shell, innovating a hydrogen fuelled four wheel drive, seeking to build 4 sustainable cities around India, and is taking an incredibly sustainable approach to business generally.  Next up was Professor C S Kiang from Peking University.  He spoke incredibly eloquently, enthuisiatically and endearingly about China's approach to climate change.  Key message being; they are beginning to act on climate change.  SARS he said was something of a wake-up call on the need for sustainablity to become part of Chinese growth.  It now has ambitious renewable energy and energy efficiency targets, and is becoming a power house in areas such as photovoltaics and is generally putting the UK to shame where renewables are concerned.

So, what does this all mean. It means that we should stop ridiculous old-world Western love-ins like the G8 and establish a new entity including India and China (without a plus in the title).  And respond to the fact that these countries are moving.  This movement can be harnessed, collaborated with, and benefited from, but only if we are cognisant of the new realities and are willing to engage them in a geniunely two way conversation about our common future.  Otherwise we may not be a significant part of that future.