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Everybody in India is currently focused on China and how big and powerful it is becoming as a competitor, and as a market. China is a big threat alright, but there are other countries that are now trying to gear up to the new set of mega opportunities at a global level.

Some of those who were world leaders in the traditional brick and mortar economy have openly declared that they would like to be global leaders of the new age information and services economy as well, include England, France and Germany. Prime Minister in waiting Gordon Brown of the UK, president Nicolas Sarkozy of France and chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany have made their ambitions public. And there might be other names as well.

These countries already have lots of strengths, but it is a leadership change that could make a big difference to countries such as India. Those of us who feel that India is all set to conquer the world, should realize that this much younger and different leadership mindset could make them a big contender for the global pie.

There are quite a few things which these leaders feel must be improved if their countries have to make an impact. Infrastructure, for instance, will be one area that these European giants are going to focus on. All leaders, including Brown, Merkel and Sarkozy, are stressing on the need to enhance the quality of physical infrastructure in their countries. These include, among other things, better power supply, more industrial and business zones for companies to set up operations, higher telecom and IT penetration in public and corporate life and high quality Internet, and e-Governance. We will see these governments spending more on developing this backbone.

One is also likely to see more industry and business friendly policies for taxation, work related travel, and even emigration. Lobbyists and opinion makers such as Thomas Friedman, who wrote 'The World if Flat', are now rallying that people who come to the US for technical, management, and other job oriented courses, should be given a green card without any conditions. Otherwise, these exceptionally bright students, who get educated and trained in the world's best institutes, will go back to their country.

The other area these countries say they will focus on is education systems and planning. Many of these countries are actually teaching more students from other countries like India, China, Brazil, Vietnam, South Africa and Croatia than their own natives. The reasons are several and they need to be handled at a Governmental level. These leaders have indicated that they will ensure that there are more of their own boys and girls in technical and management schools.

In a nutshell, if these European giants are successful in what they are talking about, then they might be able to offer a far superior but more cost effective infrastructure for attracting business, a far bigger and economical talent pool to take up the jobs on offer, and a bigger market that would give them much stronger negotiating position with vendors as well as customers. And a business and political environment that allows business travelers to come into EU easily, and move within EU more freely, will encourage talent from other countries, thereby reducing salary pressures.

What has not happened very successfully so far is that these countries, in spite of EU, have not been able to work very closely. But some political observers say that economics will surely bring them together. India, surely, needs to work on all of these things, and work fast.

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