 "Improve ease of doing business, says US Ambassador")
Stating that an "invitation" is not sufficient to convince American companies to invest, United States Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, said on Thursday that India must improve ease of doing business to compete better with other countries.
Speaking at a discussion arranged by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), Verma also supported the idea of a bilateral investment treaty to boost trade between the two countries. The draft of the agreement was exchanged by the countries in October last year and is awaiting approval by the Cabinet. Total trade between the two countries stood at around $64 billion in 2014-15.
Replying to a question on why invitations extended to US investors by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have not yielded desired results in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, Verma said, "The FDI numbers are getting better but they are not what they should be." He said intense competition in South East Asian region signaled India's need to do more in this regard.
The exceptionally competitive market meant only an invitation to investors was not sufficient and the country needed to become more globally competitive.
Speaking at a discussion arranged by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), Verma also supported the idea of a bilateral investment treaty to boost trade between the two countries. The draft of the agreement was exchanged by the countries in October last year and is awaiting approval by the Cabinet. Total trade between the two countries stood at around $64 billion in 2014-15.
Replying to a question on why invitations extended to US investors by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have not yielded desired results in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, Verma said, "The FDI numbers are getting better but they are not what they should be." He said intense competition in South East Asian region signaled India's need to do more in this regard.
More From This Section
Verma added that under the ease of business umbrella, issues regarding taxation and contract certainty still remained key hindrances. "US investors are looking at other parts of Asia such as Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and even in India they are looking at different states." he said.
The exceptionally competitive market meant only an invitation to investors was not sufficient and the country needed to become more globally competitive.