India, ASEAN told to remove barriers<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Mumbai<\/p>\n
India and ASEAN member countries could easily multiply trade and
\ninvestment flows between them in just a few years if they removed
\ntrade and investment barriers, experts said.<\/p>\n
"We have to find ways of eliminating existing trade barriers,"
\nsaid Tan Sri Dato Ajit Singh, former secretary general of the
\nAssociation of South East Asian Nations from Malaysia, during the
\nsecond India-ASEAN business summit recently. Singh is now an
\nadviser to the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and
\nIndustry (FICCI) for ASEAN matters.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that there were many bottlenecks in trade
\nbetween the two sides with heavy bureaucracy, high tariff and
\nnon-tariff barriers.<\/p>\n
"We also need more direct flights, ... easier access to visas,
\nand you (India) must lower your hotel rates," Singh said.<\/p>\n
He explained that trade between India and ASEAN had been
\ngrowing at less than US$1 billion per year during the past the
\ndecade, which is far less than the actual potential. "In
\ncomparison, the pace of trade between China and ASEAN is 10 times
\nfaster."<\/p>\n
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said in his
\ninaugural speech: "India-ASEAN trade now exceeds US$10 billion,
\nbut it has barely scratched the surface of its potential. We
\nmust aim high, and target a turnover of $15 billion over the next
\ntwo years, and $30 billion by 2007."<\/p>\n
ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong acknowledged that
\nIndia's 1.2 billion population, fast growing middle-class and
\nother economic advantages offered huge potential for ASEAN
\nbusinesses, but perception among ASEAN businesspeople that it was
\ndifficult doing business with Indians must be changed.<\/p>\n
"We must try to make people more aware of India... We really
\nneed to do more to bring the perception to another level," Ong
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"We can do more, the potential is there."<\/p>\n
India and ASEAN have been trading partners for centuries. The
\ntwo as regional trade partners offer a huge and attractive,
\ngeographically contiguous market of nearly 2 billion people.<\/p>\n
Looking at the numbers, there is indeed huge business
\npotential in India, a country now considered as one of the
\nlargest emerging market economies in the world with a gross
\ndomestic product (GDP) of around $2.9 trillion, according to
\ninternational consulting firm McKinsey in a report.<\/p>\n
"The economy is now on the verge of a sustained increase in
\ndomestic demand due to rising per capita GDP and the increasing
\nglobalization of India's capital markets. These, coupled with
\nthe availability of low-cost, high-quality manpower, offer
\nattractive opportunities for business in India," Mckinsey said,
\nadding that the number of people with a relatively high income
\nlevel of more than $2,300 per year was projected to jump to 44
\nmillion in 2006 from 27 million in 2001.<\/p>\n
But Singapore businessman William Chong, who is planning to
\nset up a hospital in India, said that those figures and
\nprojections meant nothing if there was not a serious attempt to
\neliminate trade and investment barriers.<\/p>\n
"Issues like licensing, red tape, repatriation (of profit),
\nand (antiquated) labor laws must be immediately addressed," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
There has been suggestions from some participants in the
\nbusiness summit that India should set up a Cabinet level
\ncommittee chaired by the Prime Minister to discuss and resolve
\nthe various bottlenecks in doing trade and investment activities
\nin India.<\/p>",
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