Most Western executives are ignorant about Indian currency: Study

Mumbai, June 21 (UNI) Six out of ten directors in the director boards in Western countries are totally ignorant about Indian currency, says a study.

According to the study, conducted by British Telecommunications (BT), nearly 72 per cent of the Western business executives believe Indian businesses are less advanced in terms of technology, while many of them do not know what is the Indian base currency unit.

''The findings are troubling. Though the Western executives had the system in place to work with India, they lacked the knowledge to do so effectively,'' said BT India Chairman Arun Seth.

The study, conducted during the period March-April 2007, quizzed 800 directors from US, Germany, France and UK.

While nearly 55 per cent of the directors in these countries are ignorant about the Rupee, nearly 10 per cent were unable to give an example of India's main export or industry. Five per cent of the directors said they believe tea is India's most prominent business.

However, six out of ten directors accept that emerging economies like India have the potential to reshape global business landscape whereas 61 per cent of the respondents admitted the role of emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in world business map in ensuing decades.

The survey also revealed factors including different legislation and regulation, data security and political interference as the top three barriers that were road-blocks for international business collaborations.

UNI