A look at the year gone by
The pandemic has reinforced the need for reform by Governments across the world at the social level, in terms of a renewed focus on improving the lives of the under-privileged. The global pandemic has exposed the limits of the nations and the poor have borne the brunt. It has reinforced the fact that trickle-down economics won’t work, and nations need to put a renewed focus on healthcare and creating wealth, especially for the poor.
On the business front, it has become even more explicit now that businesses need to focus on the real fundamentals and true cash generation. The time of focusing on vaporware valuations while riding on purchase of organic growth through heavy cash burn rates has passed us by. Many companies perished in spite of having strong investment funds backing them.
Looking to the future
Companies who were trying to project future success by subsidizing today’s sales are going to have to revisit their business models as markets now demand real value for their investments
Healthcare and environment will be two top items on each country’s agenda. On the economic front, nations will need to renew their focus on generating increased GDP – especially in the field of Manufacturing, Agriculture and Services. Nations that are investing in manufacturing and attracting investments will attract more capital and create wealth for their people.
In India, there will be a renewed focus on creating Intellectual Properties – like Concepts, Products, Patents etc. This augurs well, as it is one of two twin pillars of growth for the industry and the economy, the other being technology.