China and India are growing economic powers, but Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., for one, has heard enough about how they will overtake the United States.

The governor, speaking at the annual member meeting of the Utah Technology Council on Thursday, cited various rankings and statistics to support the idea that the United States remains a top player in the world economy.

"I want us to remember that we need to be a state of the future. We need to be part of where we are going as a nation, because where the nation goes certainly goes our state," Huntsman said.

"And as somebody whose career has been mostly focused internationally over the last 25 years, I'm tired of hearing that China and India are going to eat our lunch competitively — 'They are the future and we are the tired old power, kind of like the United Kingdom became' — because I see it differently. And I think a lot of it starts right here with what you are doing as entrepreneurs and technically competent individuals.

"I would say that Americans remain . . . the hardest-working people on the planet and the most productive, which we fail to take into account. In virtually every industry category and every rate of productivity you can look at, we are seeing surges in productivity, faster now than what we saw in the '90s with our work force in America."

The U.S. accounts for 40 percent of the world's research and development spending and 30.7 percent of the world's gross domestic product, up from 30 percent in 1971, he said. "Is the United States becoming a less-important player in the world economy? Well, not yet," he said.

Talk of a shortage of scientists and engineers can be countered with knowledge that the United States has more of them per capita than China or India, he said. And while the U.S. education system does "a mediocre job" educating people up to age 18, it is "outstanding" in educating and training people from 18 to 65, he said.

Twenty-two of the world's top universities are in the United States, and there continues to be an influx of foreign students to American universities, he noted.

"The nation is a vibrant place, and I like to think what we're seeing happening in Utah is a direct extension of a lot of the competitiveness improvements that we have seen in our country, which I think is pretty tremendous," Huntsman said.

As for Utah, the state has been the site of corporate announcements the past two months that will result in a total of about 3,000 new jobs at IM Flash Technologies, Qwest Communications International, Silicon Valley Bank and Fresenius Medical Care.

"They're good jobs and the kind of jobs that are taking our wage rate up considerably, which is where a lot of people had problems with the way our economy was going before," Huntsman said. "We were producing jobs, but I would argue in a state like ours we can pull in the best jobs out there because we've got the best-trained and qualified work force, the best quality of life and arguably the premier central distribution point of the West."

Utah's job growth remains strong despite the state population growing by 80,000 new residents last year — the equivalent of "adding an Ogden a year," he said.

"Utah's economy is strong and it continues to improve, despite what many forecasters said even last year," he said.

---

E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com