Sheth, who authored “Chindia Rising: How China and India Will Benefit Your Business,” spoke to an audience of about 150 people at UCF. He also gave presentations to hundreds of additional attendees at community events in Orlando and Daytona Beach.
Sheth is the founder of The India, China, America Institute and a professor of marketing at Emory University in Atlanta. He has worked extensively with companies such as AT&T, Delta, Ernst & Young, Ford, General Electric, BellSouth and Cox Communications.
Sheth’s presentation at UCF, titled “Chindia Rising,” was organized by the UCF Global Perspectives Office and focused on the ascent of China and India as economic powers. According to Sheth, China and India are going to have enormous international impacts on the global economy and resources, as well as the politics of the world.
He began his presentation by explaining the shift in global power toward China and India over time. The 19th century was an era for the Europeans, and the 20th century honored the legacy of the Americans. The 21st century is reserved for the revolution of the East. As previously affluent countries such as Britain, France and the United States have aged, they’ve become unable to compete in global markets as they once had, he said.
He noted that economic standing in the world is currently measured in terms of buying power. While the United States is currently ranked first and China second, it will not be long before China and India outrank all others.
In addition, the contest for resources and leadership has helped fuel India’s and China’s emergence as economic powers on a global scale.
In terms of leadership, Sheth added that China’s and India’s economic rise will cause a change in the functioning of democracy and capitalism as we know it. Their advanced forms of economy will soon direct the political systems of the globe, he said. He argued that it is inevitable that China’s and India’s global importance will one day ascend to a level that eliminates the American dollar as the only commonly used currency.
“This will lead to the rise of China and India as the next economic superpowers in the first half of the century; the second half will be all Africa,” Sheth concluded. “The rise of Chindia will have worldwide impact on global resources, global markets and global politics.”
Sheth’s presentation was sponsored by UCF’s Global Perspectives Office, The India Program at UCF, The Anil and Chitra Deshpande India Program Endowed Fund, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, LarsonAllen LLP, the UCF College of Business Administration, the Daytona Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce, the UCF Political Science Department, the UCF International Services Center, UCF LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.