Doing Business Offshore

India is a developing country. It is also the world's second most populous country and largest democracy. An understanding of Indian culture is important to success in business relationships. One important characteristic in Indian culture is the enjoyment Indians find in the interpersonal side of business with a key focus on long-term relationships.

Market Key Facts

Source: CIA World Factbook (Currency, Population, Language)

Doing Business in India

• The two main languages in India are Hindi, the national language, and English, which is largely used for official purposes. Hindi and English are spoken and understood in most regions. In addition to Hindi and English, there are 18 regional languages in India.
• India offers many opportunities for New Zealand operators, but it's important to be open to learning about and understanding Indian culture, consumer needs and market requirements in order to tailor products and sell a product well.
• Indians find enjoyment in the interpersonal side of business and value long-term relationships. They do not appreciate a cool, transactional approach.
• Indians are generally very religious people and can appear morally quite conservative. The most common religions are Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Ayyavazhi.
• Indians may often be vegetarians on religious/caste grounds. Most Hindus do not eat beef because of their reverence for the cow, and Muslims do not eat pork.
• The consumption of alcohol is also forbidden in some parts of India. Drinking behaviours are quite restrained.
• Dinner is usually served late at functions held in private homes and will usually conclude the evening.
• Only 7 per cent of Indians use the internet (81,625,545 people), with 4 per cent of users subscribing to broadband (Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/)

Want to know more about doing business in India?

Visit the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise corporate website