New Delhi: It’s not like the world should impose China’s growth model on India and India should emulate it to achieve economic development, says global investment leader Martin Escobari, who urged the world to be patient with India’s growth trajectory for it to begin its own journey to development.
On the blog of entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath’s podcast post, Escobari said that the growth narrative of India would be distinct from China as the two nations have varying assets and liabilities, places, economic ecosystems and so on.
Escobari, a Co-President of the global investment firm General Atlantic, noted that many people liken India and China as both economic giants in Asia. But he feels that, somewhat ironically, it’s possible to draw incorrect conclusions from such a comparison. India needs to develop its own model, and not the Chinese approach to manufacturing success, he says.
He noted that India’s domestic market is huge, it is a young country, the infrastructure is gradually implementing digitalization, and India has a very strong entrepreneurial culture. All these factors provide a distinct advantage to this nation which can help propel country growth in the long run. Meanwhile, India is also grappling with a host of social and economic transformations that need India-specific answers.
Escobari also pointed out one of the problems faced by a majority of Indian startups during the discussion. In India, due to the size of the domestic market and the single focus of companies on domestic markets, they often prefer to ignore building products and services that can make a cut across the globe. This he termed to be a “domestic-market trap” because their businesses grow well in their own country but not abroad.
This problem didn’t dampen his spirits, however, as he believes in India’s promising future. Escobari feels the nation is fueled with talent, capital, and innovation to build world-class businesses. What India requires, he further said, is more and more role models like entrepreneurs who could motivate the next generation to have bigger thoughts and create world-class businesses.
The topic of the global economy evolution, the growth of artificial intelligence, and new opportunities in healthcare, technologies, and consumer markets were also discussed. Countries that caught up fast with the new technology could reap huge benefits from AI, Escobari said, adding that AI is one of the biggest technological shifts since electricity.
His message for investors and policymakers was: India is headed towards a good future, but not one that looks anything like China’s. Expecting overnight changes is not desirable as the world should give India time and space to grow according to its strength and situation. India’s distinctive development pattern has gathered more and more attention in the global spotlight and is poised to be one of the most significant economic narratives of the next few decades.
