CHINA VS INDIA

China Vs India

Recently I had an opportunity to meet a delegation from a Middle Eastern oil company looking for alternative sources for the supply of steel tubular products. Their target destinations were manufacturers in China and India. Their traditional suppliers from Japan, USA and East European countries have been unable to meet their requirement within the required time schedule.

The delegation was returning home when I met them. They were impressed by the range of products and the quality control mechanism of the manufacturers in both the countries. The prices were very competitive and the delivery schedule was very attractive as far as their project targets were concerned. They were all set to invite tenders from steel manufacturers from the two countries.

However, they made some observations which they were a bit reluctant to discuss initially. Later, they opened up and started talking.

They were immensely impressed by the development of infrastructure in China; wide and shining highways, gleaming high-rises, swanky shopping malls, recreation centres of global standard, uninterrupted power supply etc. They drove at 80 KPH through Beijing downtown. In comparison, the situation in India was dismal. They were caught in traffic jam on their way to the hotel from the airport at Mumbai. They experienced power cut in another town. City streets were choc-a-block with cars, trucks and people. There was dust and noise everywhere. “India needs to work on infrastructure”, was their comment. The image they had drawn in their mind after all the stories of economic boom, was shattered.

Interestingly, in spite of the unfavourable observation, their preference for doing business was tilted towards India. The reason was communication. The Indians were excellent communicators. Questions regarding the business details were answered clearly and promptly. The language of communication was, of course English.

On the contrary, the Chinese depended on an interpreter during the meetings and presentations. The interpreter apparently was put on the job after a brief crash course in spoken English. He learned the grammar but not the diction. Words spoken in a heavy Chinese accent were almost unintelligible. A few did have a better diction but they had no knowledge of the business. Therefore, any question put up by the delegation was translated to the professionals whose responses in turn were translated back. Apart from the time wasted in this process, vital information was literally lost in translation.

The Chinese seem to have woken up to this shortcoming. They have introduced English, spoken and written at elementary schools. And they mean business and in one generation this inadequacy will be wiped out and the edge that India has at the moment will disappear.

But one generation is a long time; enough to develop the basic infrastructure like roads, power and civic amenities in India to focus global attention to India as the major player. There is no shortage of funds as several IPO’s have demonstrated time and again.

With a little effort, we can improve our infrastructure before China polishes her English.