America’s ‘Anything But China’ Attitude Has India in a Sweet Spot: Goyal
NEW DELHI (IANS) – With an all-pervasive sentiment of ABC – Anything but China – in the US, India is increasingly the go-to country for American business. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India is in the sweet spot as far as US business is concerned.
“Americans are gung-ho about India, the whole world in fact is looking at us, agri goods, services; they want more and more engagement with us. The reasons are clearly identified – political stability, emerging power in tech and design, and vast consumer marketplace. They are looking at an upside and viewing it as a big opportunity. One MNC wants to set up operations in India hiring as many as 200,000 people. The focus areas are semi-conductors, cutting edge R & D and design strengths among others,” Goyal said.
Goyal was quick to add that India labor is now most sought-after. He gave the example of a recent visit to textile capital Tirupur where he spoke about how Tirupur could become the next Bangladesh. He said: “We can do a Bangladesh in textiles; I told them and guess what their response was – send us 50,000 to 100000 people who they can absorb immediately and scale up their operation.”
“Agreed foreign investors want ease of doing business to be improved, according to him, but equally we have to undertake skilling and upskilling techniques at a rapid pace.”
Equally he said Indian entrepreneurship has flourished in the US with the diaspora doing exemplary work. He added that in the US he spoke extensively to the Indian American community telling them: “India has the advantage of demographic dividend. Our youth, the aspirational people we have in India is the biggest opportunity and each one of them is connected to the world with access to the Internet. As we embark on our journey towards making India a developed nation, it is an important time for us to reflect on where we see India in the next 25 years. The next 25 years of Amrit Kaal, as PM Modi articulated, will define India’s growth story. Our goal is to become a $5 trillion economy in the near future.”
