There was a time when an almost sneering view was taken at countries struggling with global integration. The major hurdle was in the inability to economically integrate due to technology that at the time came at high costs. As time went by and the same struggling countries such as India and Bangladesh not only progressed in technology and did it cheaper the tables were turned. All on a sudden outsourcing basic processes made sense. Businesses relocated albeit temporarily and a huge outsourcing market was created. That was before the global recession when growth stunted and jobs became at stake.
And now in between the egregious mess of finding jobs, trade wars and politicians getting it all wrong the process seems to be on the reverse. Tax initiatives are being offered to bring jobs home, politicians are still getting it wrong in the UK and whopping trade barriers through punitive tariffs are being imposed on the less equipped countries. Human rights are being viewed both ways: as an argument for tariffs and offer of low prices and indeed business as well as is conveniently overlooked when it comes to 'security cooperations' and arms sales. But somewhere in between the point is being lost that cheaper imports contribute to cheaper and stable prices of goods and that jobs at home mean having to pay more for labour.
And so the CEO of Huawei is not concerned about the gradual isolation his company faces in the face of 'security' issues. In an interview with the BBC he was optimistic in finding markets other than those who chose to ignore his company and the 16.7 per cent market share of Smartphone that his company has. His is a company that began in 1986 with three employees and today is owned by 80,000 employees of the 800,000 that are on the payroll. Then Zhenfie has the guts to venture as far as saying his daughter, the CFO of the company, Meng Wan Jhao's arrest wouldn't force him to buckle down and that he would rather close down his company than share data with the Chinese government.
That's quite the opposite of what Apple was forced to do when a terror attack required them to handover secure passwords of the phone used by one of the perpetrators as part of 'National Security'. It is natural that if Huawei components can be comprising so can Apple. That's the price one pays for technological advancement. And Facebook and Google have already been found guilty of compromising on personal data with mere fines as a slap on the knuckles.
Take the example of Mr. Donald Trump trying to force European and other vehicle manufacturers relocate their spare parts assembling to the Unites States. It drew an angry response from Ms. Angela Merkel, quick to point out that her country already had manufacturing operations in North Carolina. It almost sounds as if Mr. Trump wants all jobs, with Nissan and Honda already committing to US-based plants, not just American ones to relocate. Businesses can only be dictated so long as it makes supply chain sense. Sensing a low demand for electric cars and such, Honda became the third company to announce closure of its manufacturing concern in Swindon, UK by 2021 at the cost of 3,500 jobs. They follow Nissan and Jaguar and could be part of a longer list of Mercedes Benz, BMW and Volkswagen that have cited Brexit concern but not necessarily just so for their decision.
These companies will be seeking alternative sourcing locales and India, if it shares technology with Bangladesh, could be the next boom. Unfortunately that wasn't on the Foreign Minister's list of priorities during his recent discussions and that too with a 210-strong delegation. Neither have The IT sector's $ 7 billion target been on the discussion table with Huawei for all the technology we buy from them.
The writer may be reached at mahmudrahman@gmail.com