Entrepreneur says investing in india worth the challenge

Those planning to do business in the subcontinent soon discover that the path is often not very smooth, but problems can be resolved by understanding the cultural differences and business practices, said a Thai businessman who recently went there.

"It is a totally different story in India," said Anusorn Muttraid, Board of Trade of Thailand chairman of the committee on Indian affairs and executive director of Delta Electronics (Thailand), which has set up facilities manufacturing electrical components in India.

He said that while businessmen in Thailand were facilitated with a one-stop service centre for investment like the Board of Investment, India lacked such a facility. He related his frustrating experiences dealing with the Indian state and central governments while setting up his factory operations in Gurgaon, close to Delhi, and Rudrapur, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.

His plans to set up another factory in Pondicherry have been put on hold until he feels he can find the right direction.

"One has to understand the Indian culture and realise that each Indian state is different from the others. It is quite complicated," explained Anusorn, who said government authorities often gave conflicting information.

Anusorn shared his views during a panel discussion held during the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and International Indian Film Academy Awards Global Business Forum last weekend.

According to Doing Business 2008 data, which ranks countries in terms of ease of doing business, India is 126th out of 178 countries, performing better than the 2007 ranking of 132. Thailand ranks 15th.

Despite the challenges, Anusorn is optimistic about doing business in India. He acknowledged that India's strength lay in its location as a gateway to countries in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, enabling the company to sell directly to local operators.

"Even though India has high logistics costs, the labour cost is low - so when you select the type of investment in India, you have to consider the balance of many factors and use the best ones to your advantage," he said.

"We selected Pondicherry in the southern part of India because we see opportunities there. Thailand has a manpower problem and we totally depend on India for the labour force."

Anusorn believes that it is best to employ local people to run the company, as they are the best judge when managing the firm and people.

"As a public company, our policy is to invest 100 per cent by ourselves and control the business."