For the 28th Nehru Memorial Lecture, IFFCO chose a relevant subject and an equally competent personality to speak on ”China and lessons from it”. US, China and India-the three leading economies today set the agenda for the world economy and nothing could be more timely.
The NCUI auditorium-the venue of the Lecture was packed with cooperators jostling with each other to grab a vantage seat. On the podium as the number of VVIPs outnumbered the available seats a back row was created for the IFFCO Directors and others. From Aditya Yadav to Prem Chandra Munshi to NCCF Chairman Bijender Singh could be seen occupying these.
In the front row on the podium chief guest Nirupama Rao, Former Foreign Secretary, the two awardees Mustafa Sardar and Satish Marathe, MD Dr U S Awathi, Chairman B S Nakia, Vice-Chairman Gowda and the man who replaced G N Saxena as Director of Cooperative Relations A K Singh were present.
In the audience Rekha Awasthi, Sudhakar Rao and other VIPs could be seen listening to Rao’s speech with rapt attention.
Speaking on the occasion the main speaker Nirupama Rao, Former Foreign Secretary and also the former Ambassador to China and USA asked what lessons can be learnt from China in the face of the fact that India is neck neck with China in the unfolding growth scenario.
China’s spectacular growth over the last four decades is today plateauing , said Mrs Rao and it offers a unique chance to India to fill up the gap. India enters the scene China had just been in and we could learn a lot from their experiences, summarized Rao.
“China’s speed of implementation of projects is worthy of emulation. Lessons can be learnt from the Chinese experience of growing her manufacturing sector where it is now the factory of world. This has particular relevance to
our” Make in India strategy” Rao said to a packed NCUI auditorium.
Rao said the first lesson to be learnt from China is the building-Roads, Rail, waterways, power, ports, airports and telecom. China spent 8.5 percent of GDP on infrastructure during this period compared to India’s 4.7. per cent.
Secondly, as has been noted, China let selected industries and geographical regions take the lead in ramping up manufacturing. The sectors selected were export-oriented consumer goods such as textiles, shoes and toys, and infrastructure and real estate-related industries such as steel, cement, glass, construction equipment and shipbuilding. The east coast took the lead, especially the coastal areas from Shanghai to Guangdong. These pioneering cases became examples for other areas to learn from and emulate.
Thirdly, China dismantled barriers to inbound foreign direct investment (FDI) and also created several special economic zones which process rapid access to needed licenses and permits. And fourthly, the proportion of high school students graduating from vocational schools has steadily grown larger so that 90 to 100 percent of the young workers joining China’s factories are well trained. It is critical to close the gap in vocational skills if Make in India has to succeed. China’s experience has proved this.
Another interesting point touched upon by Mrs Rao in connection to Indo-Sino relations was the worldview of Rabindra Nath Tagore who believed that India and China shared common cultural heritage as was proved by the fact that there had hardly been any case of shoot-out at the disputed border though there had been occasions of high tension between the two armed forces for more than 3 decades. What she left for the audience to understand was a contrast in the Indo-Pak tension on the border.
A K Singh IFFCO Director spoke on the importance of the Cooperative Week while BS Nakai Chairman welcomed the guests including the Chief Guest Ms Nirupama Rao.
Mustafa Sardar and Satish Marathe were also bestowed with the cooperative awards by the Chief Guest Nirupama Rao on the occasion.
Lauding the role played by Ms Rao in easing relation between India and China Dr U S Awasthi MD informed the audience that she was one of those who made first attempts on behalf of India to build bridges with China initiated by Rajiv Gandhi thirty years ago. “We are grateful that she has travelled all the way from the USA to be with us on this occasion”, Awasthi added.
Gowda proposad a vote of thanks on the occasion.
