India looks to Latin America as an option for business

In India it is said that every 50 kilometers the language is changed, says Umesh Sinha, senior deputy of the Elections Commission - the simile to the Chilean Servel -, to show how challenging it is to manage the electoral processes in the largest democracy in the world by size . With a population of 1.3 billion -868 million voters-, 22 official languages ​​and a myriad of dialects that are present in its streets, India is, in fact, several worlds in one. It is also a market that, in the hands of its Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is embarked on a process of multiple reforms that, among other objectives, seek to increase ties with Latin America. "We want to be partners for a long time in Latin America and the Caribbean", summarizes Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesman for Foreign Affairs of India, who together with the Latin American and Caribbean countries in that division, Ashok Das, changes in progress. "The government has realized that we have to have a program focused on bridging the gap between economic and social growth ... All our initiatives launched in the last three years have a social footprint," say senior officials.

Objective: To change the face of India economically "Electricity for all before 2019"; "A toilette for each family"; the development of an infrastructure program, roads and ports; a biometric identification system for people to receive subsidies; a system to facilitate the opening of bank accounts in small and remote towns; a solar program to produce 100 gigas before 2022, are all examples that are mentioned to illustrate some initiatives with which they intend - in the words of their Chancellery - "to change the face of India economically," summarizes Kumar. "Make in India", which seeks to make India known to the world as an attractive market for investments and for the purchase of all kinds of manufactures, automobiles, drugs and heavy machinery, agribusiness and textiles, is also part of this picture. "Few countries currently have such a strong internationalization campaign,".

Jorge Guerrero, president of the Chilean Chamber of Commerce (Camindia), estimates from Chile. The middle class and also the active population grow Although India's growth rates exceed 7% per annum, as it walks streets of its capital, Delhi, poverty is evident, and the data reflect it: its per capita only comes to US $ 6,616. But with that said, the population and potential market volumes are so large, it is shaping up to be an equally attractive market. Data from the Confederation of Industries of India (CII) - a simof the Sofofa- show that in the number of households, for example, in 2015 there were 3.3 million in the segment with greater purchasing power, and its projections point to 2025 this segment will rise to 9.5 million households. The middle class will rise from 60.6 million to 128 million households. And poor households, in turn, would fall from 180 million to 143 million. In addition, the population aged 15-64, ie the active labor force, will continue to increase, from 860 million in 2015 to 985 million in 2025 and to 1,145 million in 2050.