The Non-Resident Indians settled in the Gulf traditionally get the credit for sending in foreign exchange remittances to India.

But the NRIs based in other parts of the world play a bigger role. They help in pushing FII and FDI flows into the country, says K B Chandrasekar, head of strategy and planning for the HSBC Group (Asia Pacific).

"All the NRIs do their bit in helping the country. There are a lot of professional Indians across the globe who may not be in the top tier of management.  But they plan a major role in bringing in funds. There are many Indian investment bankers and fund managers who influence their counterparts in US and UK and channel investments into the country," he says.

He points that compared to NRIs, a larger number of Chinese expatriates are more entrepreneurial.

"The Indians are more of traders. The Chinese population own manufacturing plants, hotels, et cetera across Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia. They have floated companies, developed regional brands like Hutchison. Indians, on the contrary, are not good at brand building," Chandrasekar points out.

According to Chandrasekar, there are very few Indian companies which are global companies.

Says he: "At least in certain niche areas, Indian companies should immediately start going regional. The Indian government should create a framework for these companies to go overseas. There are more restrictions from the Indian side than from overseas for taking over companies or increasing the base."

He feels that Indian companies can create and market brands. "Though it is not going to be easy, it will create the wherewithal and management knowledge when Indian companies take over others," he says.

Chandrasekar's responsibilities in HSBC include acquisitions, strategic planning for countries and business lines and implementing HSBC's 'Managing for Value' programme.

He was earlier the chief operating officer for HSBC Group's International Private Banking and Trustee business based in London.

According to him, a lot of professionals have settled in the Asian countries -- in Middle East like and Southeast Asian countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.