Head first

The latest office memorandum of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) talks of rescheduling a meeting that was slated for January 18. Although the text of the memo says the new date and time would be conveyed later, the header gives it away: “Postponement notice for 186th meeting to be held now on 24th January”. Clearly, it’s a hurried job. Now all eyes will be on the January 24 meeting that is expected to take up the Swedish furniture company IKEA’s proposal. IKEA’s application was withdrawn from the FIPB agenda at the December 31 meeting, since the finance ministry sought clarifications from the company on many issues. The matter was not listed for the January 18 meeting either but the company is expected to complete the paperwork well before the January 24 meeting.