Narendra Modi promises US CEOs faster decisions
PM will on Monday meet US President Obama to pick up discussions they left off in New Delhi in January
New York: Top American chief executives urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accelerate the pace of economic reforms and remove the “obstacles" they confront in doing business in India.
Modi, in turn, promised to speed up decision making and reduce the role the government plays in business. “The world is not going to wait for us. I know that," Modi said.
The CEOs of 42 American companies with a collective net worth of $4.5 trillion met Modi at a dinner hosted by Fortune magazine on Thursday night where they pulled no punches in talking about the difficulties of doing business in India.
The company chiefs in attendance at the meeting included Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Marillyn Hewson, Ford Motor Co.’s Mark Fields, International Business Machine Corp.’s Ginni Rometty, PepsiCo Inc.’s Indra Nooyi and Dow Chemical Co.’s Andrew Liveris.
Fortune editor Alan Murray, who moderated the discussion, said India’s complicated regulations, confusing bureaucracy, poor infrastructure and overlapping local taxes were mentioned by the CEOs, who urged Modi to “pick up the pace of change".
Despite the litany of complaints, the American corporate giants plan to expand in India.
“The high turnout of CEOs highlights the prime position India holds in today’s global economy. With China slowing, India’s 7.5% growth rate makes it the fastest growing major economy in the world today and many of the CEOs cited plans to expand there," Murray said in a newsletter he released after the meeting.
Trade between India and the US has grown from $19 billion in 2000 to $100 billion in 2014. US exports to India totalled $38 billion last year, supporting an estimated 181,000 US jobs, according to US government data. Cumulative Indian foreign direct investment in the US totalled $7.8 billion in 2014; US foreign direct investment into India was $28 billion.
At the dinner, Modi listened to each one of the CEOs speak about their concerns and plans for India, foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Inviting their companies to set up manufacturing units in India, Modi told them, “Reform in governance is my No. 1 priority. We are for simplified procedures, speedy decision-making, transparency and accountability."
According to an official statement, the CEOs expressed support for the Make in India, Skill India and Smart Cities initiatives of the Modi government.
Swarup said the CEOs felt that change was “afoot and visible", which was reflected in their upbeat mood.
Modi will on Monday meet President Barack Obama to pick up discussions they left off in New Delhi in January when Obama travelled to India to attend the Republic Day parade as chief guest.
“We are deeply committed to strengthening the US-Indian relationship, building our economic and commercial ties, advancing our political and security cooperation in Asia and around the world," deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes said on Thursday, setting the tone for the meeting.
“India will be critical to a successful global effort to combat climate change, so the two leaders will certainly address their shared vision of how to approach the upcoming meeting in Paris," he added.
At a 90-minute meeting with Modi, top executives of global media companies made a strong pitch for early expansion of the 4G network and TV digitization.
Modi told them that India offers the “biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge for them".
The media company chiefs included News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch, Time Warner Inc.’s Jeff Bewkes, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.’s Michael Lynton and Discovery Communications Inc’s David Zaslav.
The focus of the meeting was on the role that the media and entertainment industry can play in the development and generation of employment opportunities in India.
Uday Shankar, chief executive of Star India Pvt. Ltd, who was present at the meeting, said over the phone from New York that the interaction with Modi emphasised the point that not only should content be made for different groups of people, it should also be in local languages.
After the meeting, Murdoch tweeted: “Great hour with Indian PM Modi. Best leader with best policies since independence, but massive task to achieve in most complex nation."
In one of his first official appointments on Friday, Modi met World Bank president Jim Yong Kim and the two discussed issues related to sustainable development, clean energy and climate change.
Modi arrived in New York on Wednesday night on a six-day official visit during which he will also travel to Silicon Valley to meet the top information technology and social media CEOs and address a meeting of some 18,000 Indian Americans on 27 September.
Mint’s Vidhi Choudhary contributed to this story.
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