US not opposed to outsourcing of jobs: Jaitley

Tuesday, 23 December 2003, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: The US government does not approve of legislations, being mulled by some states, seeking ban on outsourcing of jobs to low-cost countries like India, Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley said here Monday. The US government disapproves imposition of barriers to outsourcing through legislations as are being planned by New Jersey and some other states of the world's largest economy, Jaitley told Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament. "The industry is also not in favour as it is in their interest to outsource these services and get them done at a cheaper rate," he said. The minister said US industries had started a campaign against the move in some states restricting outsourcing of jobs to countries like India to cut cost. Some of the political activists had also joined the move. In June this year, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick had assured Jaitley that Washington did not favour legislations to curb business process outsourcing. Jaitley said even on the WTO front, India is pressing hard for further liberalisation in the trade in services and movement of natural persons. As far as outsourcing is concerned, Jaitley said several developing countries like India were being favoured for back office operations by business houses in EU and the US as it was more economical for them.
Source: IANS
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