External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday invited companies from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries to take advantage of the opportunities for investments in India and mentioned the number of initiatives taken by the NDA Government to improve business and investment atmosphere.
“Today, India is one of the fastest growing major economies in the world. In the last three years, Government of India has undertaken a number of initiatives and introduced a series of reforms to improve the business environment in India…These steps have opened new opportunities for trade and investments into India. I invite companies from ASEAN countries to take advantage of these opportunities for investments in India in numerous sectors such as smart cities, roads, highways, ports, railways, power and urban infrastructure,” Swaraj said while addressing the ministerial session of ‘Delhi Dialogue-IX’, a premier annual event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between ASEAN and India.
This year’s Delhi Dialogue comes at a time when India and ASEAN are celebrating 25 years of relationship, and 50 years of ASEAN. The theme for this year is “ASEAN-India Relations: Charting the Course for the Next 25 Years”.
Talking about ways to improve economic partnership with the ASEAN countries Swaraj mentioned negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). “We look forward to a positive outcome of the next round of negotiations that will commence in Hyderabad later this month. When finalized, RCEP offers immense possibilities as the largest regional trading arrangement, accounting for about 40 per cent of world trade,” EAM said.