NOT MADE IN CHINA – VOCAL FOR LOCAL IN INDIA!

NOT MADE IN CHINA.  This is not a call anywhere, yet.  However, members of the pro democratic party in Hongkong peddling merchandise labelled “NOT MADE IN CHINA” have been proceeded against.  We have also seen China pushing forward for the implementation of the National Security Act in Hong Kong too.  So much for the one country two system rule that the Chinese had agreed to have in place for 50 years post 1997 in Hong Kong – a territory which they took back from the British.  Hong Kong residents participate in large numbers to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protest on the 4th of June each year.  It would be interesting to see the participation in this event at Victoria Park in a few days from now.  Protests are simmering as uncertainty builds up in the future of this city state which has been a major  international financial hub in Asia manned mostly by expats.  Will they leave the city and take their businesses elsewhere and is there an opportunity for India given that we are trying to promote our own International Finance Centre at GIFT CITY near Gandhi Nagar?

We have also seen and heard America’s President Donald Trump blaming the Chinese for the Covid-19 crisis and seeking reparations in billions of dollars to compensate for the human and economic losses.  The US has also contemplated delisting of around 200 companies based in China or Hong Kong on the US stock exchanges in a move to restrict their growth.  There have earlier been restrictions on Chinese companies acquiring strategic facilities like ports, etc in quite a few developed countries.  The US has also restricted the use of American software and tools used by Huawei in the manufacturing of their chips.  This will certainly impede their growth till they are able to develop their own tools, which may take a long time and also involve considerable costs.  In the meantime it would impact their sales and market cap as also their ability to raise additional funds internationally.  Several other countries have joined the USA, some more subtly than others, in reacting to the losses caused by the Covid-19, which they attribute to the Chinese.

The Chinese have, after failing to convince others on their innocence, resorted to a more belligerent and aggressive response, which includes banning beef imports from Australia, movement of forces along the Line of Actual Control between India and China,  and also threats to the USA and other countries in some form or the other.  This may also be to cover up for their own internal dialectics, vis-à-vis their population, as apparently their economy has also slowed down. Meantime, the spread of Covid-19 in their own country continues unabated, albeit unreported.

Quoting our own Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, “21st Century is India’s century and should not only be a dream for all Indians but also their responsibility”.  He has given a clarion call for Atma-Nirbhar India and Vocal for Local.  All countries when faced with the crisis of economic and human losses will try and look at measures to strengthen their own economies first before bothering about the rest of the world.  Talk of interdependence in such situations can only be pleasant rhetoric.  So in this context, Shri Narendra Modi’s call is most timely and appropriate.  

We have for far too long, through several centuries, allowed ourselves to be exploited, subjugated, and shared with the rest of the world, first our resources and then our markets, while struggling with our own development issues.  The call for Atma-Nirbhar India can be wrongly construed as a call to boycott foreign goods or can be interpreted as a call to consume only goods that are produced in India, which will not only save valuable foreign exchange but also create employment opportunities in India.  Prudentially, the location of any manufacturing facility is either close to the raw material source or close to the market.  With a population of 1.37 billion people and all available resources, there is no reason for us to be having a massive trade deficit of USD 55 billion dollars with China and similarly with other countries too.  The clarion call of Shri Modi is therefore also directed at global companies which export to India to come and set up shops here and avail of comparable facilities, regulations, and taxes as anywhere else in the World, and be next to what is poised to be most definitely the fastest growing market in the World.  That is where, perhaps, our responsibilities, as the consumers, the regulators, the bureaucrats and other stakeholders also lie – in acting responsibly to make this dream a reality. 

This opportunity comes our way once in a generation and we should make the most of it!

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