China might join India in opposing H-1B visa fee hike

There is a possibility that China would join with India in opposing the H-1B visa fee hike. On August 13, President Barack Obama signed the Border Security Bill and it has come into affect this week.

Indian IT firms are very much upset over increasing H-1B visa fee. During the India visit of Barack Obama in October, India would discuss about this matter with him. Indian companies slammed the bill as discriminatory.

The Border Security Bill aims to raise $600 million for the security of the U.S.-Mexico border. In order to procure this money American government raised its H-1B and L-1 visa fees.

Under the new law, firms who employ 50 or more employees in the U.S. with more than 50 percent of its employees in the United States in H-1B or L (including L-1A, L-1B and L-2) non-immigrant status will have to pay higher fees. 

According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) firms will have to pay an additional $2000 for certain H-1B Visas and $2250 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions and this rate would remain till September 30, 2014. H-1B visa is an important thing for the technology sector.

This would cost Indian IT firms annually more money for they send many Indian workers under H-1B visa. 

Apple Finds China a very important Growing Market

Chinese economy has been growing rapidly for more than two decades and the country has now a flourishing middle class who do not mind paying some extra money for quality products. Apple bosses have realized this matter and now are planning big for the country.

In fact, right now, the company has now only one Apple store in capital Beijing and is going to open a second store this weekend in Shanghai. It will be one of the largest in Asia.

This is a good move from Steve Jobs and his team as most consumers in China have little scope to buy products like iMac or iPad from a genuine dealer. They have to depend on the underground sellers and this is not good for either Apple or the consumers.

May be even 5 years ago, Apple products were some expensive for most consumers in China but now with the prospering economy, there are many consumers among 1.2 billion people who can afford to buy an iMac or MacBook. iPhone is also sold in the market and Apple needs to come up with a good campaign plan to attract the Chinese consumers. Before anything, Apple has to open more shops in some of the large cities of the country.

Good thing is that the company is planning to open around 25 stores in the next 24 months. So, it is clear that the Chinese people will see more of Apple products from now.

Apple does not have any significant market share for any of its products in China. So, there was huge room for growth and the potential is enormous too. 

Nepal Gets Zero Tariff Facility from China

Nepal and China have signed a deal under which 4,721 products from Nepal will get zero tariff facility in the Chinese market. The deal has been signed to reduce the existing trade imbalance among these two countries. Under the deal, most of the major export products of Nepal will have zero tariff entrance in Chinese market.

China has been expanding tariff cuts to the products from the least developed countries (LDC) in the world. Nepal is not only a LDC but it is also a neighbor of China. Binod Chaudhary, president of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has welcomed this deal between the two countries. He expected optimism that this deal with help to decrease the trade imbalance which is heavily in favor of the giant country.

Right now, bilateral trade between the two countries is around Rs 36 billion and Nepal only exports to China just around Rs 4 billion. Good news for Nepalese businessmen is that most of the major export products of the country such as carpet, readymade garment, textile products have been included in this deal.

This Himalayan country is sandwiched between India and China and traditionally the country had better relationship with India. In the last few years, decision makers in Beijing have been trying to improve relationship with Kathmandu. 

India will have More Multinational Companies than China by 2018?

This headline may come as a shock to you but the prediction has come from PricewaterhouseCoopers. In a report, the company has predicted that by 2018, India will have more multinational companies than China. Right now, India does not have a lot of multinational companies but China has. What is happening is that Chinese government is not opening up too much for foreign companies. Foreign companies are in China but their main goal is the vast Chinese market rather than becoming a true multinational.

On the other hand, India is trying to attract foreign investment and opening up its market as much as possible. So, many foreign companies will perhaps feel that India can be a good place and they can make their base in India. Secondly, Indian government is also trying to help the Indian local companies so that they can become big and someday emerge as true multinational groups.

Of course, there is a long way to go big and I think that India has some problems. Most people in India are still very poor and the condition of rural areas is miserable in many cases. 

Infosys Looking for Success in Chinese Market

I always think that Indian companies are not good when it comes to become a global brand. In fact, I cannot think of any Indian company that has been a global player in any industry. Some companies are trying to change this trend. For example, Infosys is now thinking of making some inroads in Chinese outsourcing market. Well, it will not be easy because US giants like IBM is already present in the market.

Infosys has just some more than 1000 workers in China and it shows that it is yet an insignificant player in the Chinese industry.

PC world has an indepth report about it: Infosys Looks to China Outsourcing Market for Growth

If you have time then you should read it.