'India, US need to liberalise visa regime to boost bilateral trade'

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SME Times News Bureau | 13 Sep, 2012
India and US should liberalise their visa regime to boost business and trade between the nations, said Donald Lu, Deputy Chief of Mission, US Embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"The easy visa regime between the two countries would considerably help facilitating businesses," he said during an Indo-US Economic Summit being organized by Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC).

He also mentioned that there is a hope that an economic recovery in both the countries would be witnessed soon, which will further trigger mutual flow of investment and heightened economic activities.

The official also observed that the negotiation for the proposed bilateral investment treaty between India and the US should be put on the fast track.

Further, there should be more clarity and certainty in the tax laws, more forward looking reform measures in banking, multi-retail, insurance etc., would help boosting the US investment in India, he also added.

He also believe that if right measures are taken to enhance the relationship between both the countries it will help both the countries in the long run. In fact, the US and India bilateral trade in goods and services has increased almost five-fold in the last decade, from $18 billion in 2001 to nearly $90 billion in 2011, and may go up to $100 billion this year.

Also speaking during the summit, John L Flannery, President and CEO, GE India said that the US continues to invest in India despite the crunch in the flow of capital across the world.

However, he cautioned that there are many competitors for attracting investment and any restrictive policy would have a negative impact on the overall FDI policy.

The long term prospects for Indo-US businesses is very bright since India provided attractive destination for investing in sectors like healthcare ,education and infrastructure, he added further.