ID :
74009
Thu, 08/06/2009 - 20:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/74009
The shortlink copeid
US obliged to deal with India and China: Obama nominee
Lalit K Jha
Washington, Aug 6 (PTI) A top Obama Administration
nominee in the Department of Commerce has told American
lawmakers that the US has no other option but to work in close
association with India and China because of their growing
economic clout.
"We are obliged to deal with India because of the
resources that the Indian economy is putting behind, because
they want a certain level of economic excellence and economic
primacy as well," Dennis Hightower, the Obama nominee for
Deputy Secretary of Commerce, told the Senate's Commerce,
Science and Transportation Committee in his confirmation
hearing.
"So unless we begin to understand how those two countries
(India and China) function, how they think about global
economic development, we are going to have an issue that is
not going to have the outcome that we want," he said.
"I would say one of my early priorities certainly, upon
confirmation, would be to look at, one, the trade issues, and
two, how do we then use the leverage of the classic innovation
and some of the new technology that we have and can bring to
bear to change the dynamic that currently exists with those
countries?" Hightower said in response to a question.
Referring to his recent experience and travel to India,
Hightower said most of the projections that he has read and
have been a part of providing data for, in the next 25 years
over 60 per cent of all consumer spending is going to occur
between China and India.
"So to the extent that we understand that China, with
roughly 25 to 26 per cent of our current debt, has to be more
of a spender as opposed to an investor, I think this will go a
long way," he argued.
"I think the emphasis and the effort directed in that
regard will have handsome payoff to the extent that we have a
focused strategy. India likewise, because of their commitment
to the technology and the excellence -- because, as I have
been in India and you look at what is happening there in
Bangalore, as I mentioned, these young people are not coming
to the United States anymore to study, as their fathers might
have done at MIT, Caltech, Rensselaer and some of the other
premier science and engineering schools," Hightower said.
"They're being educated by the Indian Institutes of
Technology. So they are reinvesting in their own people in
those countries. So they have -- when you look at the sale of
Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata, Tata now will become one of the
largest automotive manufacturers in the world. So we are
obliged to deal not only with Tata," Hightower said.
In his opening remarks, Hightower said countries such as
Brazil, Russia, India and China -- often referred to as the
BRIC countries -- are now employing aggressive industrial
policies reminiscent of Japan's strategic commitment to the
electronics industry in the 1960s.
"Today we find ourselves competing not only with
companies of great capacity, but countries intent on
establishing dominance in the growth areas of the 21st
century," he said.
"During recent business travels in India, I was floored
by that country's commitment to reinvesting in technology and
the implications for the United States. In Bangalore you find
that the technological inroads are often being created and
sustained by young people under the age of 27," Hightower
said.
"In America, if we expect to lead, we must put our best
minds on the toughest problems: reforming the way America uses
health care, consumes energy and educates our children. These
reforms, which are being pursued relentlessly by the
administration, are absolutely necessary to create long-term
and sustainable economic growth and jobs," he argued.
Hightower has more than 30 years of extensive business
management experience in global marketing, international
management and strategic planning as the recent CEO of Europe
Online Networks and a former senior executive of the Walt
Disney Company.
He is also a former professor of management at Harvard
Business School and has spoken as a guest lecturer around the
world. He has served in innumerable industry boards of
directors. PTI
Washington, Aug 6 (PTI) A top Obama Administration
nominee in the Department of Commerce has told American
lawmakers that the US has no other option but to work in close
association with India and China because of their growing
economic clout.
"We are obliged to deal with India because of the
resources that the Indian economy is putting behind, because
they want a certain level of economic excellence and economic
primacy as well," Dennis Hightower, the Obama nominee for
Deputy Secretary of Commerce, told the Senate's Commerce,
Science and Transportation Committee in his confirmation
hearing.
"So unless we begin to understand how those two countries
(India and China) function, how they think about global
economic development, we are going to have an issue that is
not going to have the outcome that we want," he said.
"I would say one of my early priorities certainly, upon
confirmation, would be to look at, one, the trade issues, and
two, how do we then use the leverage of the classic innovation
and some of the new technology that we have and can bring to
bear to change the dynamic that currently exists with those
countries?" Hightower said in response to a question.
Referring to his recent experience and travel to India,
Hightower said most of the projections that he has read and
have been a part of providing data for, in the next 25 years
over 60 per cent of all consumer spending is going to occur
between China and India.
"So to the extent that we understand that China, with
roughly 25 to 26 per cent of our current debt, has to be more
of a spender as opposed to an investor, I think this will go a
long way," he argued.
"I think the emphasis and the effort directed in that
regard will have handsome payoff to the extent that we have a
focused strategy. India likewise, because of their commitment
to the technology and the excellence -- because, as I have
been in India and you look at what is happening there in
Bangalore, as I mentioned, these young people are not coming
to the United States anymore to study, as their fathers might
have done at MIT, Caltech, Rensselaer and some of the other
premier science and engineering schools," Hightower said.
"They're being educated by the Indian Institutes of
Technology. So they are reinvesting in their own people in
those countries. So they have -- when you look at the sale of
Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata, Tata now will become one of the
largest automotive manufacturers in the world. So we are
obliged to deal not only with Tata," Hightower said.
In his opening remarks, Hightower said countries such as
Brazil, Russia, India and China -- often referred to as the
BRIC countries -- are now employing aggressive industrial
policies reminiscent of Japan's strategic commitment to the
electronics industry in the 1960s.
"Today we find ourselves competing not only with
companies of great capacity, but countries intent on
establishing dominance in the growth areas of the 21st
century," he said.
"During recent business travels in India, I was floored
by that country's commitment to reinvesting in technology and
the implications for the United States. In Bangalore you find
that the technological inroads are often being created and
sustained by young people under the age of 27," Hightower
said.
"In America, if we expect to lead, we must put our best
minds on the toughest problems: reforming the way America uses
health care, consumes energy and educates our children. These
reforms, which are being pursued relentlessly by the
administration, are absolutely necessary to create long-term
and sustainable economic growth and jobs," he argued.
Hightower has more than 30 years of extensive business
management experience in global marketing, international
management and strategic planning as the recent CEO of Europe
Online Networks and a former senior executive of the Walt
Disney Company.
He is also a former professor of management at Harvard
Business School and has spoken as a guest lecturer around the
world. He has served in innumerable industry boards of
directors. PTI
