SME Times News Bureau | 26 Feb, 2020
India Inc on Tuesday said that trade and investment
relations between India and the US have received a major boost with the visit
of President Donald Trump.
Industry body Assocham's Secretary General Deepak Sood said the two-way
engagement of about $160 billion can be doubled within the next 4-5 years.
"With a rising economy and aspiration of 1.3 billion people, India has
emerged as a key and strategic partner for the US even as the US remains the
most important and promising destination for Indian exports of goods and
services. President Trump aptly described India as a 'tremendous market',"
Sood said.
Similarly, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry's President D.K. Aggarwal said
that both the countries have significant potential to enhance trade and
investment trajectory between the two economies.
Based on strong complementarities and growth prospects, the bilateral
merchandise trade between India and the US is likely to cross $100 billion by
FY2021, Aggarwal said.
"There is a need to outline the contours for a sustainable trade
negotiation between the two countries which is broad based and encompasses wide
ranging potential sectors of development," Aggarwal was quoted as saying
in a statement.
In so far as the trade deal is concerned, Assocham's Sood said, "While a
structured bilateral agreement, still underway, would turbocharge the economic
engagement, the mutual businesses are progressing apace anyway. Energy
partnership is a new and fast-growing area of bilateral cooperation while lot
more is expected in exchange of technology."
On its part, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with US
India Business Council (USIBC) launched a '$500 billion Roadmap', a report that
provides an assessment of current trends in US-India trade and the policy
reforms needed to set business ties on a faster growth trajectory.
Specifically, the report lists out 13 policy interventions to help boost trade
between the two economies.
Besides, India finalised a $3 billion defence deal with the US for the purchase
of military equipment, including Apache and MH-60 Romeo helicopters.
According to a Boeing statement: "We welcome India's decision to acquire
six AH-64 Apache helicopters and lifecycle services support for the Indian Army.
"Through our local entity, Boeing Defence India, we are supporting the
P-8I, C-17, CH-47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache with holistic lifecycle support to
assist with India's defence modernisation effort and mission-readiness at
competitive costs."
In addition, the two sdies signed three MoU's in health and oil sectors,
amongst others.