Manmohan hardsells Brand India
The Prime Minister went all out to woo the leading lights of corporate America, making out a persuasive case on why investing in India is a "good story" for them.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday went all out to woo the leading lights of corporate America, making out a persuasive case on why investing in present day India is a "good story" for them.
"Stable policies, strong demand, high profitability, low operational costs…", the Prime Minister reeled out as he aggressively marketed India to the high-profile CEOs assembled at the bustling New York Stock Exchange.
The architect of India's first wave of economic reforms in 1991 held forth on the durability of the reforms programme and the immense opportunities the country now held out to anyone who cared to invest there.
His audience was a veritable who's who of American business: Charles O. Prince and Robert E. Rubin of Citigroup, Maurice R. Greenberg of American International, Henry M. Paulson Jr of Goldman Sachs, Harold McGraw of McGraw-Hill, William B. Harrison Jr of JP Morgan Chase, John Rutherfurd Jr of Moody's, Peter Kahn of Dow Jones, Michael A. Redenbaugh of Bell Helicopter and many more.
The PM spoke extempore and his presentation was followed by a closed-door discussion over lunch that was still under way at the time of writing. The CEOs handpicked for the event represented companies which between them account for over a trillion dollar in assets.
We need US $150 billion investment," Singh told the business captains. The setting in India, as he put it, was highly propitious, given the stable policy environment for economic reforms.
He solicited investments particularly in the infrastructure sector. His government will work towards developing "attractive public private partnerships", he said adding: "I head a committee on infrastructure to eliminate policy bottlenecks."
He dwelt on the investment opportunities in India's advanced information technology sector, where business process outsourcing has led to exciting cost-effective solutions for world business.
Pharmaceutical and biotech are among the other rapidly growing sectors with low cost R&D opportunities. He also spoke of the establishment of an investment commission with an envoy extraordinary.
As he wound up, the PM put it to the CEOs: "Effective international business planning necessitates an India strategy. There is an India story which must be a part of every company's story."
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Speaks to Clinton
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to former US President Bill Clinton to wish him a speedy recovery following his recent quadruple heart bypass surgery.
In a telephonic conversation, Singh expressed the hope that Clinton would recover soon enough to make his planned India visit that was deferred because of the surgery.
HTC