India economy and opportunities
India, one of the fastest growing emerging markets, is set to become the second world’s largest economy in the next 10 years. The following two articles look at the state and progress of India’s economy, its strengths and weaknesses as compared to other emerging markets and the opportunities for the New Zealand meat industry in the Indian market.
How effective is India’s government, compared with those in other emerging markets?
With India quickly approaching its next election now is a good time to reflect on this emerging economy’s progress and development. Harvard Business Review looks at India’s economic progress and compares it to other emerging markets in terms of the well-being of its citizens, the robustness of the economy, and functioning of its institutions. India’s strengths include having a large pool of talented workers with digital and technology skills and the large number of public and private training services to maintain local talent and development. India also has strong innovation (compared to similar emerging markets) due to having high R&D spending, high levels of early stage investment for startups, longer entrepreneur and investor visas, and government’s emphasis on adoption of digital services and prioritisation of the ICT industry. India also has one of the highest levels of trust in governmental institutions among emerging markets. Despite these positives, there are also significant issues that prevent further socio-economic development in India. These include an underdeveloped public health sector (life expectancy remains low at 68 years), a lack of inclusivity (less than a quarter of India’s labour force are women) and a lack of environmental protection. India also lags in productivity compared to similar emerging markets and only 3% of the country’s population perceive themselves to be ‘thriving’. These factors show that India still has much to improve on as its economy continues to grow and develop.
Read the full article on the Harvard Business Review website.
Could India be the next big thing for New Zealand sheep meat?
India could offer big opportunities for New Zealand’s meat industry as the two countries develop a closer economic relationship. New Zealand and India are set to be a part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which will provide a tariff-free platform for New Zealand meat industry and enable easier access to the Indian market. India is expected to be the next major market for New Zealand meat industry as it has similar characteristics to China, who is currently New Zealand’s biggest sheep and beef meat export destination. China’s demand for New Zealand meat exports grew rapidly due to its growing middle class and India’s demand is expected to follow in a similar pattern due to the market’s big population and rising middle class. This means that RCEP is likely to open up immense opportunities for New Zealand meat, however these opportunities won’t appear overnight and businesses within the meat industry are advised to persevere in the meantime. While China’s demand for New Zealand meat is still very strong, a closer economic relationship with India would open up a second major market for the New Zealand meat industry, enable a spread across multiple markets, and reduce the potentially dangerous over-dependence on a single market in the future.
Read the full article on the NZ Herald website.
