Hard to set policy, get it implemented in India: GSK CEO

Likening India to a "big company" in which it is "pretty hard to set policy" and to get the same implemented, global healthcare major GSK CEO Andrew Witty today called for simplification of the process so that "millions follow it in a straight forward way".
Speaking at the ET Global Business Summit here, Witty also raked up the issue of intellectual property protection in India and asked the country to "think through" on how it can take the global lead in striking balance between innovation and access.
When asked as a global investor what more would he like to see happen on the ground in terms of ease of doing business, Witty said, "India has many of the same challenges as a company. Sometimes it is very hard to set strategy, it feels pretty hard to set policy, its really hard to get the implementation. And the bigger your company the more complex the system and harder it gets."

Recollecting lessons he learnt after running "such a big company" of initially over complicating every process and ending up going back to streamline and simplify the process, he said: "I would humbly suggest that in context of regulation it requires to take inspiration from that comment."
He said regulation globally has become like a Christmas tree, "more complex and more decorative"
"I think that in India there is great opportunity that to think what are the challenges of making sure hundred and millions of people implement the regulation and follow it in a straight forward way," Witty said.

On the issue of IP, he said for many years India has been "for good or bad, correctly or incorrectly associated with comments about India's commitment to intellectual property" protection.

The whole world is trying to solve the problem of how do to encourage innovation and at the same time bring the benefits of innovation to billions of population across the globe, he added.
"I would really ask India to think through how we can help the rest of the world strike a balance, not choice, between innovation and access," Witty said.
He cited the experience of his own company, which sells one-third of all its global products in India and yet the country accounts for only one per cent of its revenue, as an example of striking a balance between innovation and access.

"If there are any people in the world who can solve that problem, surely it is the Indian population," he said adding "the home of innovation and invention would surely want to protect and encourage" innovation, while at the same time help it accessible to the rest of population.