WTO's Future Bright; U.S. Ready To Up Engagement With India

By siliconindia | Monday, 29 August 2016, 11:27 Hrs

“We have each had our own challenging domestic conversations on trade, but trade has provided huge benefits to both the US and Indian economies”.

He said both the economies are well positioned to continue contributing to global trade growth. He added that the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue and US-India CEO Forum this week, as well as the Trade Policy Forum that will be held in October, are focused on ways to strengthen bilateral trade partnership and business environments.

Zients said: “We are working together both bilaterally and multilaterally to increase trade, remove constraints, and create jobs. Regional efforts to open economies and increase connectivity across countries are also important. The US and India also have an important opportunity next week at the G-20 Leaders’ Summit hosted in Guangzhou, China, where counties will continue our efforts to achieve sustainable growth and spur job creation.”

Asked about the long-running discussions on a new Bilateral Investment Treaty between the two countries and whether any positive closure was expected during the Dialogue, he said over 500 US companies are active in India and the US foreign direct investment (FDI) in India stands at over USD 28 billion.

At the same time, Indian FDI in the United States has nearly doubled since 2010, he added. Zients said: “Investment treaty discussions are not on the agenda for this week’s Strategic and Commercial dialogue, but the prospect of a US-India bilateral investment treaty (BIT) is something we continue to support.

“Discussions on such important agreements between two large economies can take time. By establishing clear rules for investors, such treaties can improve confidence in an investment climate, and in doing so help spur investment, economic growth, and job creation.

“But to achieve these objectives, a BIT needs to be of a sufficiently high standard, and we continue to explore with India how discussions could lead to such an outcome.”

Source: PTI