Leia esta notícia em português - clique aqui
Poverty. Computers. . Wealth. Ancient cultures. Religiosity. Respect for animals. Sumptuous palaces. Crowds. Global companies. Education and kindness. No rush. Democratic. Reincarnation. Proud to be Indian. Bollywood. Books and readers. Blackouts. Corruption. Children in school. Growth. Weapons. Castes. Horns. Spice. Jewelry. Cars. Malls. Cows.
India is grandiose and has all these elements on a large scale. It is the world's largest democracy, and a synthesis of all the difficulties and potential of the emerging world. Untill 2050, more than 90% of the world’s population growth will come from emerging countries, and Indians believe that the solutions they find will be an example to the world, as its failures will also be those of the democratic world.
In January of this year, a group of teachers and alumni of FIA made a cultural, education and business journey to India, visiting companies, community projects, universities, museums, palaces and popular markets.
The transport and energy infrastructure is precarious, as well as sanitation and healthcare. The state bureaucracy is stifling and corruption abounds. The cultural, religious and geographical divisions fragment the market into many distinct sub-segments. Finally, the distribution systems are inefficient and expensive.
To its credit, India has a large absolute size of its market and a potential 1.2 billion consumers in the base of the pyramid, and the reality of about 60 million middle-class consumers that adopt consumer habits similar, but not identical Westerners.
McDonalds, for example, has to adapt its offerings to an audience for whom the cow is sacred: it has to offer special seasonings and products to vegetarians, and in some stores, meals at 50 cents. Suzuki has to adopt a local brand name, Maruti, to survive. I has to to create a network of driving schools to educate their future customers, and has to compete with a Nano, which Tata Industries sells for $ 2500.
India’s greatest triumph is its people: a hard working population, which fervently believes they will be better by doing good in this and future lives, and strongly believe in education as a means to thrive. Speaking fluent English, most educated Indians can interact quite easily in a globalized world, and have created a very important space for their country in global IT services.
Comparisons with China are inevitable. The Chinese have a clear purpose to build the most important economic power in the world; everyone from leaders to workers, see and work with this goal in mind. Democratic and pluralistic India does not know how to express a clear vision of its role in the world. It grows without an integrated plan, democratic, multi-faceted, chaotic, noisy and confusing. But it moves inexorably to a dramatically different future: it can be a huge market for infrastructure and consumer goods, it can provide the brains, companies and entrepreneurs for a globalized emerging world, or may lose its way in internal disputes For us Brazilians, an unexplored world with enormous opportunities for partnerships and business, but a challenge to understand and deal with this multifaceted Asian giant, a giant that cannot be ignored.
James Wright
