NEW DELHI: "The IFC is concentrating on understanding the constraints to private investment in India as well as exploring the opportunities that are emerging," said Assad Jabre, IFC vice-president, operations. He was addressing a special session at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here Thursday. Jabre, who is responsible for investments worldwide, stated that India counts among the most important investment destinations. "The IFC has found few investment opportunities, in spite of the size and scope of the nation." In India, IFC is focusing on companies that are expanding and moving towards a regional or global presence, or are restructuring and modernising to become internationally competitive. The other categories are financial markets where IFC is seeking to strengthen the commercial banking sector. Thirdly, IFC is keen on investing in infrastructure through private companies, particularly in power generation, telecom, oil and gas, information and communication technology, healthcare and education. Jabre said certain events like the Afghan war, the U.S. corporate bankruptcies, a downturn in the global economy, particularly in developed countries, the collapse in some emerging markets and the threat of war in Iraq had affected businesses and economies, leading to a rethink on investment policies and frameworks. There, however, are some comforting trends amidst the gloom. These include expansion of trade in emerging markets, reduction in barriers to international trade and stable foreign direct investment to emerging markets. "Not the least is the fact that India and China have been the key drivers of growth in the global economy," Jabre said. "The Indian economy is more self-contained than many others. It is far less affected by variations in the global economy." Jabre, however, clarified that this situation has made the Indian economy "a global economy's tortoise or rather an elephant - plodding along at its own rate rather than one of the hares, sprinting ahead at rapid pace and pausing from time to time." The Indian economy has been able to maintain a steady growth rate averaging 5.7 percent per annum, which is extremely respectable, Jabre said. In 2002-03 India is expecting a much lower economic growth, hit by a 3.1 percent negative growth in agriculture on account of last year's drought. Jabre felt that if India were to achieve the millennium development goal of halving the proportion of people whose income is less than a dollar a day by 2015, it needs to push ahead with reforms. "The Indian economy has far greater potential to grow and undergo vigorous economic reforms," he added.
Source: IANS