It's not Dubai and it's not China. It's India, anEnglish-speaking, 60-year-old democracy that has reached aneconomic pinnacle with an annual growth rate of 9% and climbing.Its companies are now starting to buy assets in the US andelsewhere, setting up a two-way street for a fast-track capitalflow.

"They're following a better, more sustainable long-term modelfor development than China, I think," Michael Cox, senior vicepresident and chief economist of the Federal Reserve Bank ofDallas, told yesterday's crowd at the Greater Dallas Chamber'sUS-India Business Forum in the Hotel Inter-Continental at 15201Dallas Pkwy. in Addison. He pointed out the difference between thetwo neighbors is India's headway isn't strictly tied tomanufacturing.

Commercial and residential real estate of all types are indemand, particularly as salaries rise, interest rates stay low andthe under-35 crowd that represents 70% of the population becomehomeowners at an earlier age and major consumers as well. By 2020,the prediction is India will be a tourist destination in SouthAsia, driving the hospitality sector to start pushing its planstoo. "Real estate is red hot right now," said Ron Somers, presidentof the US-Indian Business Council in Washington, DC.