'Odisha shd compete with othr states to attract US investment'

With a focus on boosting two-way trade ties with India, the United States today said Odisha needs to compete with other Indian states and countries like Singapore to attract more investment from the country.
"While private investment from the US continues, Odisha has to compete with other Indian states and countries like Singapore through ease of doing business to raise the volume," US Ambassador to India Richard Verma told reporters during a visit here.
Verma, who met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and interacted with industry leaders, said he wanted to learn about investment opportunities, business climate and ease of doing business in the state.

The Chief Minister, he said, explained about steps initiated for dealing with issues related to ease of doing business in the state.
On further strengthening cooperation between the US and Odisha in different sectors and raising the level of investment flow, the US envoy said investment, mainly from the private sector, was being made in the state.
Discussion with the Chief Minister covered a number of sectors including infrastructure and and the need to further strengthen trade ties and enhancing investment, he said.

Emphasising the need to expand Indo-US two-way trade and business activities, Verma said it can be sustainable.

Referring to the global economic downturn and scenario
in China, Verma said India and the US have been able to withstand the slowdown because of their strong fundamentals, fiscal discipline and low inflation.
To a query on immigration ahead of the presidential elections in the US, Verma said no matter which party wins, Indo-US relations would remain of very high priority.
Noting that bilateral trade between the two countries had crossed USD 105 billion, Verma said the target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama was to raise it to USD 500 billion.
On hike in H1B visa fee by the US, Verma said it was not directed at any country and India continues to get a lion's share of almost 70 per cent of H1B visas.