My fellow Manipuri brother, KshetriMayum Imokanta Singh, has in his write-up passionately argued on the need to
build an economically self sufficient Manipur. It is a nice thought. Unfortunately, many of his ideas in today's
context is impractical and not desirable.
Imokanta is pained at the invasion of Manipur by goods from Moreh, traders from outside Manipur, shoes by Nike and
Adidas, televisionsets by LG and Sony among others. I would like you walk you down a typical shopping list of an
average American, citizen of the world's most powerful economy.
Lets start with the car. Every second car that an American buys is a foreign one. Toyota Camry is the best-selling car in the
US, and Honda Accord ranks second. America imports about 1.5 million cars per year. The gas that an American fills up in
his car is likely to be from outside the US (America imports about 60 percent of its oil). The laptop, PC and the PDA that
he buys would most likely be made in China or Taiwan. Most of garments that are sold in upmarket outlets like Land's End, Sak's
Fifth Avenue, Macy's will be from Mexico, China or India. The Nike or Reebok that he buys is most likely manufactured in China.
When an American calls up a customer care help line, he will most probably be directed to India or Philippines. Iconic American
symbols like Columbia pictures, CBS records, the IBM building, Rockefeller Center Building in New York, Universal pictures are
all owned by foreigners/foreign companies. Many of the food and beverage that he eats/drinks would be from outside the US. Without
imports, the United States would not be able to supply the fruit and vegetable needs of the population, and consumers' health
would be at risk.
Without imports, U.S. consumers would have no bananas, would eat grapes only in the summer and fall, and
would have fewer than half the winter salads they enjoy now.
Does this all mean that all Americans should be pained or hang their heads in shame? Should American companies and government
frantically start producing everything that is consumed by an average American. In an age of market economy, states and countries
focus on their core competencies and areas of specialization. Thus Kerala that used to produce Keltron televisions (much like
Manitron) now concentrates on tourism ( remember the famous God's own Country), Ayurveda and IT.
Imokanta admires Chandrababu Naidu. What is Naidu doing for his state? He is not throwing out entrepreneurs
and traders from Andhra Pradesh. In fact, he is inviting all with open arms - Indian companies, multinationals to invest in
Andhra Pradesh.
Manipur should learn lessons from other states and countries. You cannot be everything to everybody.
Concentrate on your core competencies. Tourism, sports, theatre, dance - Manipur has already carved its niche in these areas.
The effort now should be on concentrating on these areas and make further headway on each.
Entrepreneurship can come from within and also from outside. Remember the Jamshedpur (then in Bihar and now in Jharkhand)
was made by a Parsee from Mumbai. Birlas, Bajaj and Goenkas built their business empires not in their native
Rajasthan but in Kolkata and Mumbai.
Manipur will certainly arise and awake. What is needed is decisive leadership, broad outlook and a recognition of the realities
of today's world. Manipur's place in the sun will soon arrive.
*Senjam Raj Sekhar is Managing Partner (North & East),
Genesis Public Relations which is India's largest Public Relations firm.
He is also a columnist with the Hindustan Times and The Asian Age.
He can be contacted at [email protected].
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