Prabhu leaves for US tomorrow, to discuss trade issues

Union minister Suresh Prabhu will leave tomorrow on a three-day visit to the US where he will hold 'structured talks' with his counterpart Wilbur Ross over trade and commerce.
During his visit, between October 25-28, Prabhu will also meet US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and interact with top Indian and American business leaders.
"Tonight, Im going to the US to meet my counterpart Commerce Secretary as well as Trade Representative of US. This is the first time India is going to have a structured interaction on Commerce and related issues with the Trump administration.
"Therefore, it is a very important meeting in which we will be discussing issues from their side as well as our side. I will also be meeting a lot of business leaders there from India and the US," Prabhu said while addressing a conference here.

He was speaking at the launch of the official website of the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management here.
Later in the day, the minister also released a book on trade analysis of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) between India and Korea here.

Issues like visa, greater market access for goods, and intellectual property rights are expected to figure in the trade policy forum (TPF) meeting between India and the US on October 25 in Washington, according to officials.
The trade policy forum was set up in 2005 and the meeting is co-chaired by the Indian commerce minister and the US Trade Representative (USTR) with an aim to expand bilateral trade and investment.

On the second leg of the visit, the minister will visit Cuba, from October 28-31, to hold discussion for boosting bilateral trade.
"I am going to meet quite a few ministers, we have invited them in Havana, Cuba for meeting them on how can we promote bilateral trade with them," Prabhu said.
Besides, the minister expressed confidence that India is on a growth trajectory, admitting that there are challenges because global economy is not as strong as it should be.
"Quarter here and quarter there, you should not worry too much," Prabhu said.
"We are very happy that over the last quarter, the growth rate in exports is good, not only petrochemicals but it is broad based growth, top ten commodities if you analyse they (exports) are actually growing," said the minister.

Sharing details about his recent visit to Stockholm, he said Swedish firms are keen to invest in India.
"They (Sweden) themselves have reiterated and confirmed that they would like to invest in a huge way in India," he added.
Observing that the growing interest of countries in India was evident, the minister said two major delegations from Korea and Japan comprising top business leaders are expected to visit in January next year.
The commerce minister also said the government is trying to develop an exclusive portal for startups and working on creating a single website for all exports and international trade activities.

"I have already told DGFT and they have started working on it. A lot of agencies have to be taken on board particularly with Customs because most formalities of import and export are with Customs," he said.
"Soon we want to organise a round-table on startups. Soon, you will hear good news on ease of doing business," Prabhu said.
India has time and again raised the issue of H-1B visa with the US authorities and asked them to liberalise their visa regime as Indian IT companies contribute significantly to the American economy.
Trade between the two countries increased to USD 64.51 billion in 2016-17, from USD 62.11 billion in the previous fiscal.

However, foreign direct investment from the US into India dipped to USD 2.37 billion in 2016-17 from USD 4.19 billion in 2015-16.