Goyal calls upon US businesses to look at India as next investment destination

New Delhi, October 08: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday invited American business to be a part of Prime Minister’s vision, and look at India as their next investment destination. Addressing the India Chamber of Commerce USA's Summit on Global Financial and Investment Leadership, he said that the Indian Government is committed to being bold, open, and change. “Let's work together in the spirit of oneness. Let's engage with each other and I am sure we have a bright future for the shared prosperity of the people of the US and India.”

 

 

Stating that the US-India relationship will grow from strength to strength in the years to come, Goyal said that we are at the cusp of a very enduring relationship. He said that the duo nations have a long journey ahead of us working together leveraging on huge reform measures that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken under Aatmanirbhar Bharat. "The potential between the US and India is boundless. We are partners who trust each other and we can make rapid strides to provide a trusted source to American businesses to work with a country which is transparent where there is rule-based trading and dialogue. The bilateral trade between US and India grew from $126 billion dollars in 2017 to $145 dollars in 2019. The target we have set of $500 billion dollars in the next 5 years is eminently doable", he added.

 

India today is moving out of the past into a mindset of high-quality products, greater global engagement, and greater share of world trade. He said that this isn't time for a conservative approach, it's time for bold decisions and bold investments. Goyal noted that the Modi Government has a very holistic approach. “We are moving from red-tape to red-carpet. We are moving out of the shackles of the past into a more open & liberal foreign investment destination. As the Prime Minister has said, "We have to take the Indian economy out of command and control and take it towards plug and play."

Describing the reforms being undertaken in the country, Goyal said “India is undertaking efforts to reform the Indian systems of Governance, policies and laws around mining, space technology, defence, banking, financial sectors, labor and agriculture reforms. We have embarked on a new journey which will take India to levels never seen before. We are looking at logistics reform to bring down the cost of logistics. We are doing several tax reforms. We have insolvency laws in place. India's corporate tax is amongst the lowest in the world. My own Ministry is working at 'plug and play' and cluster development. We are looking at a genuine single-window system which makes it easy for companies and businesses to work in India. We are focusing on improved infrastructure. We promise faster registration, easier availability of infrastructure.”

 

The Minister, mentioning about the close relationship between the two countries, said that India and the US have come to each other's help at every possible juncture in the last two decades, be it India's membership into Nuclear Suppliers Groups or in the UN Security Council or be it America's requirement for necessary medicines at the peak of COVID pandemic. He said that a great reflection of India-US relation is the bilateral discussion that US Secretary of state Mr M Pompeo and Indian Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar had in Tokyo on the sidelines of the QUAD and the fact that third India-US 2+2 dialogue is expected to take place later this month on October 26, 27.