German cos keen to use 'new optimism' in India for business

A business delegation from Germany met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday and conveyed that the companies from that country want to use "new optimism" in India for doing business here.
"In our discussion with the Finance Minister, we wanted to show that we are committed to invest in India. We want to invest, we are prepared to invest, we are prepared to do more. But of course it's all about trust. We need trust to invest more and that is why we wanted to analyse the situation.
"We read Prime Minister Modi's 10-point agenda. We have some obstacles. We want transparency, there are security related issues. We need investment protection," said Ulrich Grillo, President, Federation of German Industries (BDI).

Yesterday, top three business leaders from Germany, including Grillo met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to discuss about business opportunities in India.
Among others, Juergen Fitschen, Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank and President of the Association of German banks and Hubert Lienhard, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA) also met Jaitley.
Fitschen said present juncture is about changed perception for India, it has witnessed a tremendous growth in past one decade.

However, investment climate was not good in the past few years and it needed a change, he added.
"We were waiting for change and that has happened now which is a good news. Now we have to ensure that we can use this new optimism into actual behaviour at corporate level," Fitschen said.

The business delegation also talked on issues of FDI, skill development, education, infrastructure, social security, and Free Trade Agreement.
The business delegation also asked the government for an equal treatment so that the German companies in India should be seen at par with local firms.
"Our obstacles seem to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We are confident that words would be followed by action. We got a very good impression from the Prime Minister. We are optimistic and are confident that it is going in the right direction," Grillo added.