'Making imports easier will boost manufacturing in India and create jobs'

Alexander De Croo, deputy PM of Belgium, talks to Sanjay Jog on bilateral and related issues

Alexander De Croo, deputy prime minister of Belgium, talks to Sanjay Jog on bilateral and related issues.

Edited excerpts:

What are the prospects for bilateral ties, especially in the wake of various developments worldwide?

These are certainly turbulent and changing times. I am bit surprising to see at Davos who is defending sustainability and free trade -- it is China and against it actually the US.

It has been a reality show for two weeks. It is disgrace to start labelling certain groups as potential terrorists. It is a dangerous evolution if you start saying millions with a legitimate visa cannot get into the country as there is hunch that something might be wrong.

Against this backdrop, India's development is quite visible, especially the manner in which  extreme poverty has been eradicated due to investment and trade. This is a good thing for  development of the world. We will prefer to do it together with the US but if we have to continue without the US, then this is what is going to happen. We will be looking for like minded partners who believe in international cooperation and India is definitely a very important one.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said at the Davos meet that the economic outlook is good but the political outlook is unstable. That is a very good summary of the world today. The potential for the economic role of India and the world can only be upward and it will be if we finally go into the opening of markets. That means real access. What we do see, though, is for the typical small and medium enterprise in Belgium, access to the Indian market is difficult today.

This apart, protection of Intellectual Property Rights in a broad sense is important.

We understand the priority of manufacturing in India but in the world of today, even if you decide to do so, you need to import parts for doing that. Making importation of goods easier is a good thing also from the perspective of manufacturing goods in India.

The government here has taken initiatives for ease of doing business. Do you expect more?

I hear Belgian entrepreneurs say the way (Indian) fiscal authorities are treating us is quite hard to understand. It sometimes feels a bit like harassment and that is not a conducive environment. We all agree that businesses need to pay a fair share of taxes and there is no problem with that but imprecision is problematic. Besides, difficulties in importation is not the opposite of manufacturing in India. If you make it easier, it is going to make manufacturing in India easier. Job creation, too.

India and Belgium have a lot in common and if we work together on political and security issues, and if we trade together, we will unleash the full potential we have as important trading blocks in the world. We stress reforms on the Indian side and at the same time, Europe needs to get its act together.

What are the key sectors to strengthen partnership between India and Belgium?

Belgium is a gateway to Europe and it will benefit India to increase its presence. At the same time, Belgium companies can tap opportunities in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and water purification. Belgian companies can also associate with the Smart City project.

Your takeaway on India's demonetisation move?

I would love if we could do that in Europe. Digital payments will increase transparency, reduce cost and make it quite easier for people. Paper money is a thing of the past. But, we have to do it step by step. It has been a great learning case, how it has happened in India. We are going in that direction. It is interesting to see that India is a testing ground for Europe and the rest of the world on doing this.