ASSOCHAM forms Global Investors' India Forum (GIIF) to improve 'Ease of Doing Business in India'

ASSOCHAM, India’s apex business chamber, formed the Global Investors’ India Forum (GIIF), to improve ‘Ease of Doing Business’, and thereby attract and mobilize leading global investors, business leaders and Indian policy-makers to address investor appetite and concerns, and facilitate capital flows with the able guidance and support of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to actualize the Government’s ‘Make in India’ strategy.

ASSOCHAM’s GIIF’s formation was announced in the presence of Shri Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP, Government of India, at the chamber’s 10th Managing Committee Meeting event which witnessed stellar participation of global dignitaries including H.E. Jan Luykx, Hon’ble Ambassador of Belgium and H.E. Abdul Basit, Hon’ble High Commissioner of Pakistan as well as several other diplomats, and industry and thought leaders.    

Speaking at the event Mr. Rana Kapoor, President, ASSOCHAM and MD & CEO, YES BANK, said, “’Make in India’ and ‘Invest in India’ have been the cornerstones of the Finance Minister’s transformative Union Budget 2015-16. Going forward, it is imperative to create an expeditious and timely approval process, including environment clearances to expedite on-ground execution of around 345 projects which are currently stalled, to revive the investment cycle and result in job creation. It is also important to integrate India’s Foreign Trade Policy with ‘Make in India’ to promote sectors with high domestic value addition component such as textiles and electrical goods. The Government must also help facilitate export growth in labour intensive sectors and creation of Indian brands; while promoting investments in IT and Electronic hardware manufacturing with special financial packages and dedicated industrial clusters.”

The ASSOCHAM Global Investors’ India Forum will focus on the following 4 key objectives:

ü  Facilitate Investment and highlight India’s investment potential by providing a common platform to hardwire the finest global companies and investors, financiers and market leaders through various Investor Road Shows and Summits

ü  Cross Border Business Development by leading outbound delegations and hosting inbound delegations to augment investment-focused exchanges

ü  Strategic Collaborations with bilateral and multilateral development organizations, international markets, Government agencies and international chambers of commerce and industry

ü  Policy Advocacy by promoting deeper dialogue and engagement for ensuring effective governance, simpler business regulations and creating a transparent, conducive and stable business environment for foreign investors in India, thereby improving Ease of Doing Business.

Speaking at the meeting Shri Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP, Government of India said, “In the last ten months, the Government has taken decisions in all the right directions in terms of ease of doing business. However, we are reeling under the legacy of 60 years of Socialist Practices. India has become one of the most complex and complicated places to do business and we need to urgently simplify and dismantle archaic rules and practices. Our Government is on the right track in this right direction - we are opening up the economy more and more; and driving manufacturing - we need a sustained focus in these areas through a focused five-pronged agenda, so that India can return to a 9-10% GDP growth trajectory.”

ASSOCHAM believes that the ongoing reform efforts need to be supplemented with suitable implementation here on, along with overhauling of some fundamental factors such as labour laws, poor infrastructure and tax policies, which have held back India’s manufacturing potential.

The Government, in its efforts to actualize the vision of ‘Make in India’ and propel growth in the domestic manufacturing sector has announced several direct and indirect tax measures, such as rate reduction of basic customs duty on certain inputs, raw materials, intermediates and components. ASSOCHAM believes that the above steps will play a pivotal role in transforming the stagnant sector through minimizing the impact of duty inversion and reducing the manufacturing cost in several other sectors.