India needs to further improve the business environment: US Trade Representative

Expressing the need of further liberalization, US Trade Representative Michael Froman has said that there is need to further open up certain areas like retail and financial services, in order to ensure greater investment inflow. He said that "There needs to be continued work on improving the business environment if India is going to attract the kind of investment -- domestic and foreign -- to meet its aspirations."

Froman, who is leading a high-level delegation here for the 10th India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting, further said that liberalizing the retail, financial services and professional services sectors would help create an open, non-discriminatory and predictable regime that improves the development of those markets as well as to ensure greater investment inflow.

He praised India’s reform agenda under the Narendra Modi government, like the landmark Goods and Services Tax, the revision of the bankruptcy code, setting up of dedicated commercial courts, and the release of the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy, he said that US has a direct interest in India's aim to achieve economic growth. Noting that India's position has improved in the World Bank overall ease of doing business rankings, he warned of becoming complacent. 

The US Trade Representative added that as per latest edition of the Global Competitiveness Report released by World Economic Forum (WEF), India's competitiveness improved the fastest in 2015-16, as the country climbed 16 places to the 39th rank among 138 countries in the index. He also said that India had been successful in increasing its growth rate, and is now one of the fastest growing economies in the world.