Huge investment options for US in India's infra sector: Sharma
Lalit K Jha/PTI / Washington Mar 19, 2010, 12:20 IST
India with its promise of higher return on investments offers boundless opportunities for corporate America to invest in the country, particularly in manufacturing and infrastructure, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said.
In his address to the Indian and American industry members jointly organised by the US-India Business Council (USIBC), Sharma called upon the private sectors of both the countries to establish partnerships and commence new ventures that will demonstrate the mutually beneficial nature of the US-India commercial relationship.
"We now seek collaboration focused on investment in India's manufacturing sector and the build-out of the country's infrastructure, shaping the country into a world-class manufacturing hub," Sharma said.
Underscoring the many opportunities for mutual and inclusive growth, USIBC president Ron Somers said the next phase of the trade and investment relationship will feature the innovations of the Small and Medium Enterprise sectors in India and the US, where fresh ideas and technologies will spur economic growth in both countries.
These companies will become more integrated into the global supply chain in the years to come and infuse new capital and energy into the US-India partnership, he said.
"Further opening of India's retail sector will modernise India's farm-to-market supply chain. Such productivity will become India's second Green Revolution," he said.
Sharma also asked the Obama Administration to relax its export control restrictions as the relationship between the two largest democracies of the world have reached a new height.
"There have been concerns in India (about export control), which we have conveyed to the US. The need is to enhance the engagement and trade between the two countries – but it is well below its potential. The fact that India is the second fastest growing economy, which is expanding at fast pace, our countries being strategic partners need to do more to enhance trade," he said.
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