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| Moving forward from the mistake of Columbus |
| Pallavi Aiyar / Brussels Oct 08, 2009, 00:24 IST |
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Christopher Columbus discovered the wrong India more then 500 years ago, a mistake with implications that persist to this day. Even in the 21st century, Spain, Columbus’ financier, remains firmly oriented towards the Americas in the west and largely ignorant of the real India in the east.
The result is an economic and cultural disconnect between India and one of Europe’s most dynamic countries. Spain is today the world’s ninth largest and Europe’s fifth largest economy. It is also the sixth biggest foreign investor in the world. In 2008, its total foreign trade was worth close to €500 billion. Yet, bilateral trade between Spain and India is paltry, at less than €4 billion.
To put this is perspective, at €8.8 billion, India’s trade with Belgium, a country of only 10 million people, is more than double its trade with Spain, 40 million persons strong.
Earlier this year, during President Pratibha Patil’s visit to the country, the first ever official one by an Indian President, bilateral agreements were signed in agriculture, tourism and industry. But translating these documents into clear business opportunities that are interesting to both sides remains achallenge.
A small step down this road was taken in June, with the opening of the Spanish chapter of the Brussels-based Europe-India Chamber of Commerce. Gour Saraff, a consultant based in Spain’s eastern province of Valencia, heads the chapter and his enthusiasm for the untapped potential for bilateral business bubbles over when he talks.
Spanish companies are world leaders in fields like renewable energy (Iberdrola, for example, is the largest global renewable energy operator) and infrastructure (six of the 10 biggest international construction companies specialising in transport are Spanish).
Given India’s ballooning infrastructure and energy needs, collaboration with Spanish companies is logical. But Saraff wants the two countries to go beyond the obvious and think up out-of-the-box business ideas. “When it comes to Spain, we need to dream a little,” he says. “We need to leverage the forces of globalisation.”
Spain and India’s differing historical and linguistic orientations have resulted in little history of bilateral activity. So, triangulation may be a way forward, says Saraff. He gives two examples of what he means.
One proposal relates to India’s growing popularity as a medical tourism destination for American and British clients, combined with Spain’s global popularity as a quality holiday-resort location. “Why not combine these and develop products whereby people who go to India for medical treatment like surgery have an option to spend the rest and rehabilitation part of their treatments in Spain?” asks Saraff.
He has already elicited interest from the city of Barcelona for his proposal and says some British medical-tourism operators are also actively contemplating the idea. The second project aims to combine the creativity and prolificacy of Bollywood and Indian TV entertainment, with Spain’s ability to unlock the vast Latin American market. Saraff has zeroed in on the seaside town of Alicante, which boasts a state-of-the-art film studio called the City of Lights. The studio has already successfully offered its services to big-budget Hollywood films.
“Prices to shoot here might be steep for Indians, but why not see how the studio can help with getting Indian entertainment to Latin America?” he asks. With their passion for family-based melodramas, Latin Americans are a ripe audience for Indian soap operas. Spanish studios can help with technical adaptations like dubbing and subtitling, provide advice on the appropriateness of content for the market and even help distribute to Latin America.
“If India wants to get involved in Latin America in virtually any sector, Spain can play a key role in facilitating that,” says Saraff.
When it comes to Indo-Spanish ties, Saraff concludes that interest is not the problem. There are Indians looking at Spain, just as the Spanish are increasingly intrigued by India. At a recent conference on business opportunities in India, held in Brussels, Saraff was able to bring 20 Spanish companies to attend.
“Everyone is interested. They just don’t know where to begin,” he explains.
Ultimately the economic logic for a deeper bilateral engagement is evident. But despite Saraff’s imaginative proposals, whether the two countries will finally break the handcuffs of history and correct the errors of Christopher Columbus remains an open question.
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