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India, China to Open Market for IT & Pharma
BEIJING (DH): India on Monday urged China to open its huge markets to Indian IT and pharma products to bring about balance in bilateral trade. “I believe the Chinese side is aware of our market access concerns,” said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman
as a win-win situation but give Chinese companies more options in their own growth trajectory,” Ahluwalia argued. “I would encourage our Chinese colleagues to be equally candid about expressing their concerns. Both sides should discuss ways of improving the investment climate
The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and China’s National Development and Reform Commission Chairman, Zhang Ping, at Beijing this week, Monday
Montek Singh Ahluwalia at the first Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) between the two countries. Praising the giant strides made by China in its economic development, he said that India looks to China to open its markets for IT and Pharma. “Taking a strategic view of our relationship, I hope that they would consider a more positive approach in sectors like IT and Pharmaceuticals, where I believe there is great unrealized potential,” said Ahluwalia. Although the bilateral trade crossed USD 61 billion this year, India was left with deficit of over USD 40.9 billion due to accelerated exports from China. “This will not only help project our overall economic partnership
as that is essential to raise our economic relationship to a higher level,” he added. Ahluwalia said India is also interested in stepping up cooperation with China on railways development. “I am very happy that this group will also provide an opportunity for interaction between our senior railway officials. We view development of infrastructure and also promotion of energy efficiency seriously.” On China’s advancements in high speed train technology and network, he said, “We are aware of China’s impressive achievements in the railways sector. Together, we can do better and I hope that we can look at the future with a more open mind.” The discussions on railway
related issues were conducted by Vinay Mittal, Chairman Railway Board, Kul Bhushan, Adviser (Electrical) and R K Jain Adviser (Infrastructure) of the Railway Board. The two sides also held in-depth talks on ‘Energy Conservation and Environment Protection’ issues. “A better understanding of energy efficiency policies and practices as well as policies on renewable energy, specially wind, solar power and other renewables could be the basis for building more partnerships between our enterprises,” he said. O n C h i n a ’s e c o n o m i c development, Ahluwalia said, “Our two countries today share many commonalities. We in India are deeply impressed by your progress and believe there are many lessons from your experience that may be valuable to us,” Ahluwalia said. On emerging economies like China and India, Ahluwalia said the industrialized countries are still in a dominant position, but the growth differential between them ensures that a sharp shift in the relative weightage in favor of emerging economies is now inevitable. “If we take a 20-year horizon, we know that the world will look very different. The change in relative economic weight calls for changes in the global order and these changes can be brought about faster, and more effectively, if India and China work together along with other emerging market economies,” Ahluwalia said. China and India have strong convergence of interests on global issues, such as climate change or global trading rules, he said. “The emergence of new groupings such as the G-20 is indicative of the new global architecture. We have a common interest that this new architecture should be such that developed countries make more room for us. “We need to collaborate in new groupings, such as G-20 and the BRICS to ensure there is a regular exchange of views between us,” Ahluwalia said.
US Food Giant Yum Brands, KFC Pizza Hut, Target $1billion in India MUMBAI (ET): The Indian operations of Yum! Brands, parent of the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains, will clock profits this year for the first time since it entered the country way back in 1995, said a senior executive of the American fast-food chain. The Kentucky-based food giant is targeting a billion dollar revenue within the next four years, famous for its fried chicken. Having e a r l i e r focused its efforts largely behind the pizza chain, Pizza Hut, the $11-billion US fast-food behemoth is now clearly v e e r in g towards KFC as it looks to create a China-like model of growth in India. KFC accounts for almost 80% of the company’s 4,200 outlets in China, which contribute onethird of Yum’s global revenue. So, out of the 1,000 stores that Yum! plans to open in India in the next four years, 50% of them will be KFC. They are keen to tap the appetite of the country’s young upwardly mobile middle class. KFC first set foot in India in 1996 but shut shop, as it ran into trouble with regulatory and animal rights protection bodies only to reenter with a changed strategy in 2005. “India has a China-like potential as we are currently expanding in the same pace as China and believe we will end up where they are in the same amount of time,” said Niren Chaudhary, MD, Indian Subcontinent, Yum! Brands. The fast-food chain, along with its Indian franchises, will be making investments of $150 million here over the next four years to reach 1,000 stores by 2015. “We see
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ourselves becoming a billiondollarplus company by the time we hit 1,000 stores. The momentum of growth has been phenomenal this year as we opened 100 stores. Now the next phase when we begin to make money and grow four times in four years and make a meaningful contribution to the international operations ,” Chaudhary said. China, alone, accounted for about one-third of the company’s 2010
revenue. Yum is also looking to grow its Pizza Hut delivery model in India where it faces intense competition from market leader Domino’s Pizza . “Earlier we operated the Pizza Hut delivery and dining platforms from the same unit and that hampered our growth on the delivery side. Now we will grow these separately and we see the delivery model expanding much faster,” Chaudhary said. The dine-in Pizza Hut will now become larger in terms of space offering an extended menu. Pizza Hut Delivery will really be one with a scalable model and is expected to grow five times to 200 outlets over the next four years. Yum! India will also introduce the grilled platform on its menu for KFC to cater to the growing number of consumers looking for healthier options. “We have been disclosing what goes into our products through leaflets in our stores and on our website for a while now as we want to educate our customers about what they eat,” he said.