India Needs To Project Its New Image, Its Stability, Says U.S. Business Leader

NEW YORK: Recent changes in China has made it less predictable and this gives India a big opportunity to project its stability, a leading U.S. business leader said.

While the conditions for doing business in India have improved and businesses are "thrilled by the shift" in India over the past year, there was still a lingering image problem, Sandra Peterson, the Group Worldwide Chairman of Johson & Johnson said. Therefore, India has to be more vocal about projecting its stability and image, she said.

"You cannot change the image of operating in India over 30 years in just a year," she said. She was speaking at the Asia Society Policy Institute on "India Under Modi: One Year In."

She said that democracy was "messy" in the U.S. and it was the case in India, but American business leaders don't make the connection and see India's democratic process in isolation.

Answering question from the audience about corruption, Peterson said that India was not as corrupt as many places and her company operated there under strict codes against corrupt practices. She added that corruption was not at the top of the list of concerns for businesses to operate in India.

International Monetary Fund Executive Director Rakesh Mohan said that in the last year, India has overcome the despondency that had marked the previous three years. Institutions abroad were more upbeat about India's economy, with Citibank being the most optimistic, even more than the Reserve Bank of India or the Indian government, he said.

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