China may receive a lot of attention from companies in Maine (United States) that are looking for a foreign market to increase their profits. But entering the Chinese market represents a number of problems such as language, a communist government and some legal problems. The President in Washington, Ron Somers, believes that India is an easier nut to crack.
India offer Maine businesses the chance to exploit the world's largest democracy, with fewer barriers to entry.
United States and India have similar legal structures due to shared British colonial roots and the language is widely used. In addition, India's economy grows by 8 percent per year and was largely unaffected by last year's global economic crisis. These are the strongest reasons for companies in Maine to look to India as a potential market.
Somers, who was born in Maine, says that several industries around the U.S. should observe India as a potential market: Especially Telecommunication and IT companies (who will find a very young and technically skilled workforce, because 54 percent of India’s 1,2 billion people are under 25 years). In addition, India sends 103.000 students to the U.S. each year.
In order to attract businesses to India, an American-Indian Business Council considers offering options for small businesses.
You must however be aware of that nothing will be easy. It takes time and requires determination and ambition from the company in order to succeed on the Indian market. Bureaucracy is the biggest obstacle, and trips back and forth may be time consuming.
But despite this, they feel that India is probably easier to do business with and establish operations than other Asian markets. U.S companies are more comfortable with the economic dynamics in India and the language skills. This implies that this may be a better place for businesses to reach their goals.
Cecilia Helland