Roland Busch: 'Few countries have made it to the moon'

How do you perceive the atmosphere here in Delhi at the Asia-Pacific Conference?

Described in one word: awakening. We sense a really very positive mood. When I speak to our Indian partners and customers, everyone is in growth mode. A lot is happening in this country in every respect, whether it's investment in infrastructure or manufacturing. For German companies, the revenue and the market are still relatively small. But they see the potential and are very willing to engage with this market and examine what needs to be done to gain a foothold.

The Indian representatives, be it Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, have recently appeared very self-confident. How do you perceive this as APK Chairman and representative of a large German company?

The people I meet here in Asia are self-confident and well-educated - and not just in India. They have every reason to be and have a clear perspective on things. The growth naturally also gives them momentum and incredible self-confidence. Successes such as the moon landing also help. Few nations have made it to the moon. India is among them, and India wants to go to Mars. That creates self-confidence.

And how does it compare to innovation in Germany?

Innovation and innovative strength are still present in Germany, which is very important. We often talk ourselves down, which doesn't reflect reality. We do an incredible amount in this area and have an incredibly strong SME sector – think of the many hidden champions that develop excellent technologies. Then there are the large industrial enterprises that have been driving innovation for decades and are still at the forefront today. But it is also a fact that technologies change very quickly. Artificial intelligence is now the topic of the hour, and this wave is rolling towards us. That means we need to be willing to change. This is the only way we can really incorporate these new technologies into our technology stack, in other words, into how we use technology – without limitations and extremely quickly.

The need to de-risk China was heard a lot here at the conference. What role can India and India's innovations play in this regard?

First of all, I must emphasize that diversification is not related to China and does not automatically mean focusing on India alone. Any kind of one-sided dependency is not good. The Covid years have taught us that. I wouldn't pin this down to individual countries, but to supply chains or market access. I believe that the markets in the Asia-Pacific region are also gradually demanding more dedicated innovations, by which I mean the requirements placed on new technologies, including in terms of price point and functionality. The way technology is used is somewhat different here than in Germany or the USA, for example. That is why local product development is playing an increasingly important role. However, not all companies in every country can afford this.

Is India being approached differently now than China was back then?

For the last 20 or 30 years, China has simply been the world's extended workbench. If you wanted to bring a product onto the market at a lower cost, you designed it in your own country and then manufactured it in China. That worked well for decades. Gradually, more and more added value was created locally and some companies were founded that developed their own products. An ecosystem has emerged. It's not just about manufacturing products but the entire supply chain and components. In addition, companies could rely on a very good infrastructure. India's development was around ten years behind China for a long time. For example, there were constant power outages, and you can't build a high-quality production facility if the power goes out twice a day. However, the foundations that will make more value creation possible in India are currently being laid. I believe India will catch up quickly, but there is still a long way to go to reach the same level.

And China?

The Chinese market is still the largest industrial market in the world. We are continuing to invest there. This means that we will increase our investments, defend and grow our market share, and develop new technologies in China.

One of the biggest concerns companies always mention when it comes to innovation is the regulatory environment.What difference do you see between India and China?Is it easier here?

We are dealing with various issues, such as sustainability, emission reduction or the Supply Chain Act, controlled by regulations. Of course, there are also local content regulations in many countries, which are designed to define and increase the share of domestic value creation, as the aim is to generate local jobs and investments. Other regulations are about local standards. However, stable regulations also mean investment security for companies. I don't think the two countries differ much when it comes to local content. When it comes to international standards, the two countries vary slightly. We are not particularly happy about this because there are already internationally established standards and additional standards increase complexity.

Is India viewed differently than the People's Republic in terms of data security?

Data hacks occur everywhere and across borders. Data security and the protection of data, and consequently intellectual property rights, are very important issues. The way this is handled varies. Data generated in China, for example, cannot leave the country. But there is also movement. We discussed this when Li Qiang was in Germany and there are already initial pilot projects to approve cross-border data traffic. As I said, each country has its own regulations and we comply with them. In Europe, it's mainly about storing more data on local European servers. That's why many companies are also working towards setting up more data centers.