NEW YORK: India can emerge as the one trillion dollar economy in the next decade by accelerating its growth and focusing on the manufacturing sector, says Vikram Pandit, co-president and chief operating officer (COO) of Morgan Stanley. "Three major points need to be recognised at this juncture," he said, while making a presentation on India's position in the global economy and capital markets organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce at the Indian consulate here. "The first is during the last decade, between 1994-2002, the U.S. accounted for about 60 percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP)," said Pandit. "The second is this is going to change. And the third is the emergence of China in the manufacturing sector and that of India in the services sector." According to Pandit, there will be global rebalancing and a realignment of the world economic growth in the years ahead. "There will be intense competition. The emergence of India as the next one trillion dollar economy will depend on whether India can accelerate growth to achieve it. "Can India do better than that? Can we emerge as a low-cost, high performing manufacturing platform?" Referring to the 1990s, which experienced the longest cycle of economic growth, Pandit said the entire world benefited by the dominance of the world's GDP by the U.S. "However that is about to change. There is going to be intense competition. And the emerging markets are many, including South Korea, Taiwan, India, Russia and China among them." Emphasising economic development was consistent with human development, Pandit said the factors driving the accelerated growth in these countries were free markets, privatisation, de-regulation, and reduced role of the governments. The financial expert then spelt out why he felt India was the next one trillion dollar economy. "India has all the factors that I listed. The one billion people have now become a major asset. We are creating one of the most formidable talent pools in the world today. Till 2010, India will be the services destination of the world. "And we are likely to see our market share in the IT services jump from two percent to six percent over the next few years," he said. While maintaining its emerging dominance in the services sector, India should make a dent in the manufacturing sector too, like China, which while maintaining its share in the manufacturing sector, was entering the services sector, Pandit said. Referring to India's capital markets, Pandit said the Bombay Stock Exchange is one of the oldest stock markets in Asia. "It has the largest number of listed stocks, next only to the New York Stock Exchange, in the world. It also has the largest number of the U.S. and European multinational companies listed. "If India maintains the three spheres of growth, namely domestic, services sector, and manufacturing and exports, India will emerge as the next one trillion dollar economy in the world," Pandit said.
Source: IANS