At a time when the Opposition is targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for touring foreign countries even during the Parliament Session, an ASSOCHAM cross-country survey has revealed that the Prime Minister’s visits to the US, Australia and Japan among other countries have helped significantly change India’s perception as a promising and stable investment destination among global investors.
The perception survey was done by ASSOCHAM to get a sense of the mood of multi-national companies which have either already established presence in India or are seriously considering looking at India.
Over 71 per cent of the senior level functionaries of these firms said that India tops the chart among the emerging countries as an investment destination while 53 per cent said that India could even overtake China as an investment destination in terms of growth potential. The survey also revealed that China is slowing while India will catch up fast.
An overwhelming 89 per cent of the respondents said it is the leadership in India which has made all the difference in the perception of global investors, helped by continuous domestic growth story. There was also across-the-broad consensus about PM Modi’s quick decision taking abilities, his attention to small details, being a good communicator, and someone who can establish contact with the global community with ease. Resolving the WTO issue with the American leadership is something that had helped improve the perception further.
Over 73 per cent of the 161 respondents spread across the US, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East felt Modi will be able to deliver on his promises on ease of doing business, improving basic infrastructure and removing bottlenecks in policy issues.
PM’s priorities for infrastructure projects, including modernisation of the Railways, smart cities, cleaning of the Ganga and improving urban infrastructure is attracting investors from Japan, Australia and Singapore.