India and Emerging Markets

“When I moved to China in 2017 to cover technology, it was still common to hear Americans say that Chinese companies couldn’t innovate. China could only copy and steal, they said. Some folks in Silicon Valley knew that there were cool things cooking in Shenzhen, but the broader attitude among Americans was condescension.”

I recently read Dan Wang’s “Breakneck - China’s Quest to Engineer the Future” (Recommended read). This paragraph reminded me a lot of personal experiences whenever I’ve talked about the fast development in Southeast Asia or now India.

Developing countries are underestimated and underreported. This not only shapes opinions, but also leads to missed opportunities.

We can see a similar phase in India’s development whether it’s

- Technological developments (India is ranked 3rd in AI by Stanford, 3rd in startup funding etc)

- Infrastructure build up (70% of the infrastructure required by 2050 yet to be build, already 3rd in solar capacity)

- Rapid urbanisation (330 million, the size of the US population, will entrée cities in the next 2-3 decades)

It might be worth taking a closer look and be open to change. Because shifts are definitely coming and there’s lots to learn from each other.

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