All the world's a stage

Japanese strategist Kenichi Ohmae speaks of a borderless opportunity for India.

China's largest investor is Taiwan. India's opportunity in 2007 will be Japan. Developed countries that pump money into Chinese businesses also end up becoming their biggest markets. India need not worry about the China threat, it's an opportunity.

These were some of the highlights of management guru Kenichi Ohmae's recent address on "Strategy in a Borderless World" in Mumbai.

Speaking at a session organised by The Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mister Strategy, as the world knows Ohmae, used the China example to illustrate how a country that depends on the world for most of its needs has turned its weakness into an advantage.

"China has been a catalyst for globalisation," he said, "since it is highly dependent on the rest of the world for almost everything."

Pointing out that most of China's management talent came from Taiwan and its capital came from developed nations, he emphasised the symbiotic pattern of the cross-border investments.

"The key here lies in knowing (how) to make things at the lowest cost destinations, and where to sell them," said Ohmae.

He added that if there was an inherent weakness in the system, it was China's lack of a reliable forecasting system. As a result, the country faces a problem of oversupply.

The former McKinsey consultant and author of The Mind of the Strategist also said it was important for companies, especially in India, to stop looking at China as a threat.

"Treat it as an opportunity," he exhorted the audience. Citing the example of Taiwan, Ohmae said that it is now the largest investor in China "" with 90,000 Taiwanese firms in the country and 10 per cent of its residents working there.

Similarly, he attributed the recovery of Japan's manufacturing to China, as it imports everything from machinery to cement from Japan. "China will soon be among the biggest markets in the world. Alongside, the Chinese will be among the biggest tourists. Both these opportunities cannot be ignored," he said.

Touching upon the other big opportunity for Indian companies, Ohmae said that between 2007 and 2011, eight million Japanese would retire and they would get $800 billion as retirement benefits.

A large part of this money can be tapped by financial service providers. Ohmae also urged India to explore closer ties with Dubai: trade is already strong, not to mention the large Indian workforce in the Emirate.