Indian corporate honchos meet with Myanmar President

The two countries set a target of doubling bilateral trade from $1.4 bn in another three years

As Myanmar heads for an economic resurgence with the global economic sanctions dissipating following surprising political reforms, Indian corporate honchos today met President Thein Sein here during which he invited investments from India in a range of sectors.

At the government level talks headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Sein, the two countries set a target of doubling bilateral trade from $1.4 billion in another three years.

Emerging from the over an hour long meeting with President Sein, Sunil Bharti Mittal, group CEO of Bharti Enterprises and a member of the 22-member Indian business delegation here, said Myanmar, with a population of six crore and untapped resources, offered huge opportunities to Indian companies as Myanmarese economy is opening up.

He told Indian journalists covering the Prime Minister's historic visit, that the President explained the opportunities that would be available in almost all sectors of Myanmar economy, including natural gas and telecom, and invited Indian private sector to invest in his country.

Mittal said he requested the President to allow international roaming facility across Myanmar as a first step to attract investments in telecom sector.

According to Mittal, as Myanmar was moving down the path of political reform and moving towards opening up its economy, "this is the right time for Indian companies" to explore the potential of this country.

While acknowledging that China had entered Myanmar in a big way and much before India, Mittal said he did not think "India has missed the bus".

Industrialist Naveen Jindal said Myanmar is just opening up politically and economically to the world and most of sanctions imposed by Western countries had been withdrawn and the Prime Minister's visit at this juncture "would go a long way in opening the doors for Indian companies to take advantage in this country".