Beijing: India fares better than China in protectingintellectual property rights and providing skilled personnel for multinationalgiants but it does not enjoy any advantage over the communist giant on labourcost front, an US think tank said yesterday (Feb 9, 2007).

Executive Vice President and Chief Economist of 'The Conference Board' GailFosler said labour cost in Indiawas somewhat the same as that in China.

So there is no cost advantage in India, Fosler was quoted as saying by theGlobal Times, a newspaper run by the People's Daily, the ruling CommunistParty's official mouthpiece.

India might have advantagesin skilled workers in certain industry and its intellectual property protectionalso functions better than that in China. That's why it is possiblefor some enterprises to consider setting up research and development labs in India,she said.

Pointing out that China isfacing the problem of having scarce professional expert resources, she said,for instance, when an international enterprise plans to build a lab in China,it needs 60 engineers who are able to combine modern business experiences withadvanced technology, as well as the ability to think of key problem and broadview.

"Unfortunately such talent in China's market is not enough atpresent. Besides, some companies will invest factories in other countriesconsidering multiple investments. Countries like Vietnam are attracting largeforeign capitals with low cost advantages," she said.