U.S. sees great investment options in India

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 23:24 IST
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Washington: Seeing a great investment prospect in India, the United States is mulling a "mutually beneficial" bilateral investment agreement with the country. The issue is expected to figure in a meeting, scheduled to take place in next month in Chicago, between Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab. "In the private sector, we hope moving forward to pursue and conclude a mutually beneficial agreement between India and the United States. India has negotiated many investment agreements with countries around the world," said Ambassador Susan Esserman, former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. "We think there is a great deal of opportunity to benefit both sides reaching a mutually agreeable investment agreement," Esserman said at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "We are at the very beginning of the discussions and we see great opportunities for enhanced investment in India," she added. According to her the bilateral investment agreement is not intended to undercut the WTO's Doha Round. It will not get around the multilateral accord too. "This agreement can move independently. This is no way exclusive of a successful conclusion of a WTO Round Agreement," Esserman said. Ron Somers, President of the United States India Business Council, said that the Private Sector Advisory Group has agreed in the vision statement to advance a bilateral investment agreement between the economies of both countries.