Indian farmers, small businesses will soon travel to woo investors in US

Swadeshi Jagran Manch to lead delegation, will try to make investors understand Indian challenges

Farmers and small businesses will soon be travelling to the US to meet investors and big business houses to apprise them of the fact that India was open for investment. They will also try to make potential investors understand the complex economic landscape of the country so that they are not caught on the wrong foot when they are here.

 

Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), will be leading the delegation on a multicity tour, expected to start on September 21. The finer details of the itinerary are still be chalked out, but the weeklong trip will include meetings with industry bodies and government agencies. “We want to understand the concerns US investors and businesses, and what convergence is possible,” said Ashwani Mahajan, national co-convenor, SJM.

 

He added, “We will share our views on several issues. We need to make them (investors) understand our stand on issues such as offline traders and the ecommerce policy, among other things.”  The plan, Mahajan said, was to clear misconceptions among investors about India, and also to make them understand how organisations such as SJM and Laghu Udyog Bharti (LUB) as well as the government need to stand by small businesses, traders and farmers.

 

“I am sure we can make businesses there understand that we are not at all against investment. We only want that everyone, including the smallest of the traders, to benefit from it,” added Mahajan. On the delegation’s itinerary would be New York, Washington DC, and Texas.

 

Trader organisations have been trying to drum up investor confidence.

 

In July this year, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), took a 35-member team to Singapore. They held meetings with S Iswaran, minister for information and communication, Singapore, and other government departments.

 

Discussions focussed on creating an India-Singapore Business Corridor for small and medium enterprises to boost bilateral trade, and for digitising 70 million Indian traders and SMEs by partnering with the Business Sans Borders programme.

 

The CAIT will take another delegation to Singapore in November.

 

“The delegation also held a series of meetings with senior officials from the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and the Singapore-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI). A MoU will soon be concluded with SBF and SICCI to facilitate digitalisation and internationalisation of Indian traders, laying the foundation for an India-Singapore digitised trade corridor to be formed,” said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general, CAIT.

 

At the three-day coordination meeting of the RSS in Pushkar over the weekend, it was decided that the Sangh will work with the government to help resurrect the economy and take corrective measures.

 

The World Hindu Economic Forum will be held in Mumbai on September 27-29. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Nitin Gadkari is expected to attend. The forum, an annual event, has invited investors from 21 different sectors this time, with a focus on manufacturing in India.