'Improve ease of doing business for more US investments'

If domestic barrier are thrown out, the US and India can achieve their bilateral trade target of $500 billion by 2025. Deepak Kumar | The Dollar Business

As barriers to market entry come down, India will see a number of American companies and investors, says US envoy

India must reduce trade barriers and improve ease of doing business to compete with other countries, US Ambassador to India Richard Verma said on Thursday, adding that an invitation is not enough to attract American investors. Speaking at an interactive session organsied by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) in New Delhi, the US Ambassador said, “The (FDI) numbers are getting better but they are not what they should be.” He, however, expressed confidence that if domestic barriers come down, the US and India can achieve their bilateral trade target of $500 billion by 2025. Referring to the Indian government's efforts towards ease of doing business which has a list of factors, including tax certainty, legal certainty in contract sanctity, protection of the intellectual property rights (IPR) and protection at the bureaucracy level, Verma said that India has started well, but it needs to do more to compete with other markets. “As barriers to market entry come down, you will see a number of American companies and investors,” Verma said. “If they (US investors) are looking at other parts of Asia, they might look at Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and normally in India also they are looking at different states so it is an exceptionally competitive market, and the invitation is not sufficient,” the US ambassador said. Expressing concern over the US’ decision to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and India’s engagement with the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade bloc for its trade advancements, several industry leaders said that they fear that such moves will hurt India-America bilateral trade relations. Verma, however said, “It doesn’t have to be. We have to do things bilaterally. The TPP will increase global competitiveness. It in no ways creates isolation.” He underscored the need to bolster India-US engagements, especially through more number of private sector investments, in order to stimulate economic growth across the world. Of late, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the US at the centre of India’s foreign policy, the two countries have stepped up engagements in a wide range of areas. Several smaller countries in the world are looking at these two nations to lessen the impact of global slowdown and sustain the momentum of global economic growth.

Februrary 12, 2016 | 5:56pm IST.

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The Dollar Business Bureau - Feb 12, 2016 12:22 IST

'Improve ease of doing business for more US investments'

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