A top US trade envoy leading the biggest ever business delegation in American history appealed to India Tuesday to go the extra mile in opening up its booming economy for foreign investment.
"US companies are very serious about doing business with India," said Franklin Lavin, US under-secretary of commerce for international trade, ending an eight-day visit to India accompanied by a 250-member corporate contingent.
Washington's desire to penetrate the Indian market with its increasingly affluent middle class, estimated at 300 million people, was shown by the sheer size of the trade mission, the largest to go abroad in US history, Lavin said.
"This is the right time to be in India," he added, referring to India's fast-growing economy, which expanded by 9.2 percent in the second quarter.
But despite 15 years of economic reforms, there were still significant hurdles to investing in Asia's fourth-largest economy, Lavin told the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce in a speech.
He pointed to foreign investment curbs in sectors such as retail, financial services, broadcasting and telecommunications. "Lifting (foreign) ownership caps and opening the Indian economy to international participation will bring greater efficiencies and help Indian consumers," said Lavin.
"It gives me no joy to report that in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business study, India ranks right at the bottom - 173 of 175 countries in the area of enforcing contracts," he added. "An estimated 74 percent of software in India is pirated, and India is one of the world's leading manufacturers of counterfeit pharmaceuticals," he said.
There were also still questions about India's commitment to economic reforms, Lavin said, asking whether the country was "on a long-term path of reform, or are we simply looking at 'the Indian moment'?". "Will these reforms continue, or will India pull back?" he asked. The US has been pushing India to step up the pace of economic reform as it seeks a bigger foothold in the Indian economy.
But the ruling Congress government has been under pressure from its communist allies which prop it up in parliament to go slow on reforms, citing fears that India's teeming poor will get swamped in a free-market economy.
The US wanted "every Indian company to have as much access to the American market as possible, and for every American company to have as much access as possible to Indian consumers," Lavin said.
Bilateral trade between the two countries in goods and services totals some 40 billion dollars annually, which the two sides are committed to doubling in three years.
Commercial and military ties between the nations have transformed since they were on opposite sides of the fence during the Cold War. A landmark civilian nuclear deal awaiting final US legislative approval is seen as the high-water mark of their new relationship. The executives accompanying Lavin represented companies in sectors ranging from information technology and telecoms to health care and energy.
There were also representatives of companies in the nuclear field, such as GE Energy - which builds nuclear reactors that would stand to benefit if the US-India nuclear deal wins final legislative approval.
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