At Asean-India summit, PM woos investors with host of reforms taken by his govt to improve investment climate.
Kuala Lumpur : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked the global investment community to set up shop in India and benefit from its fast growth, strong fundamentals, constant reforms and a welcoming environment.
Starting his first set of engagements here during his five-day, two-nation visit to Malaysia and Singapore, the PM also announced a $1-billion credit line to expand trade with Asean and promised electronic visas soon for the nationals of its 10 members. He also called for concerted global action against terrorism and asked the leaderships of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam to participate in the solar alliance he has proposed among 122 countries. “By almost every major economic indicator India’s doing better than when we took office 18 months ago,” Modi said in his first regional meeting, the India-Asean Business Summit, and said this was visible in growth, inflation, interest rates, deficit, foreign capital inflows and tax revenues. “Obviously, this did not happen by accident.
The world economy is not exactly doing well. This success is the result of a series of concerted policies,” he said, adding the idea was not to reform alone but to reform for transformation. “Most of the Asean economies have done their bit for Asia’s resurgence. Now it is India’s turn,” Modi said to loud applause after his arrival here in the early hours of Saturday for the 13th Asean-India Summit and the 10th East Asia Summit. “We know that our time has come.”
Addressing the Asean-India Summit, Modi said he was pleased to see bilateral trade grow to $76.5 billion in 2014-15 after some decline, adding the regional grouping was India’s largest partner for investment in both directions.
The PM also had several bilateral meetings on the margins of the summit, notably with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, who hosted him for lunch. In both meetings, held separately, the leaders said there was much to gain in their bilateral ties. “India-Japan ties have the greatest potential of any bilateral relationship in the world,” said Abe. Premier Li, on his part, said India and China have more common interests than divergences, with compatible development strategies that have the scope for further consolidation.
At the business summit, Modi outlined a host of measures taken to make his country an investment-friendly destination, notably through campaigns such as “Make in India”, “Digital India” and “Skill India”. “I invite you to come and see the winds of change in India,” he said, adding: “Winds take time to cross the borders. That is why I am here to invite you, personally.”
