India can benefit from China's manufacturing experience

Describing India and China as "two rare bright spots" in the context of a global economic slowdown, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya on Friday said there is much scope for India to benefit from the Chinese experience in manufacturing, towards transforming India into a modern urban economy.

"Despite a decline in growth rate, China contributes a handsome $500 billion or more to annual growth of the global economy," Panagariya said addressing the India China Investment Conclave here at industry chamber Ficci.

"With China promoting out-bound investment and India seeking foreign capital and technology, it should enable us to take advantage of the synergies and put in place a vigorous framework to strengthen bilateral investment relationships," he said.

"What China has accomplished in last 15 years is very impressive. Its economy has gone from $2 trillion 15 years ago to $10 trillion today," he added.

Panagariya said India too can become a $10 trillion economy in the next 15 years, from being a $2 trillion one at present.

"India started off to rapid growth a little later than China, but now it has the potential to accomplish in the next 15 years what China did in the last 15 years. Today, India's GDP stands at about $2 trillion and it has good prospects of rising to $10 trillion in the next 15 years," he said.

The Chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Xu Shaoshi described China and India as two important forces.

"They are powerhouse of Asia and the world. There is a need for the two countries to go beyond bilateral relationships," Xu said.

"We need to have more consensus on co-operation in the region. India has some active promotion policies like Make in India and Startup India while China has initiatives, including smart manufacturing," he added.

Xu is leading a team of businessmen and government officials to participate in the two-day India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue that began here on Thursday.

Referring to cooperation in the area of high speed railways, Xu said upfront studies have been completed for the Delhi-Chennai route and that a feasibility study will be undertaken for the Delhi-Nagpur route.

The India China Strategic Economic Dialogue has recommended closer cooperation in areas such as high speed railways, port dredging, highways, renewable energy and pollution control, among others, the Confederation of Indian Industry said in a release here on Friday.

At the conclusion of the dialogue, Ficci also proposed a Joint China-India SMEs GVC (Global Value Chain) initiative in collaboration with NITI Aayog, Ficci and the Chinese NDRC.

--IANS

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