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Jaswant swears by reforms

The Union government is committed to participating in the process of global integration and reform of the world economic order. "It is only through these processes can the full potential of the Indian economy be harnessed," Jaswant Singh, minister for external affairs and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, said.

Inaugurating the "US Investment Summit: the Dynamic South" organised by the Indo-US Joint Business Council in Madras on Thursday, he said the process of globalisation on the one hand and the country's economic reform programme on the other, had brought international business closer, bringing with it many new challenges.

On the economic issues which were on the priority list, Singh said the government had identified power, transport and telecom as some of the thrust areas. The legislative and other policy initiatives taken in these sectors had truly been pathbreaking.

The Centre had already established the necessary framework for setting up regulatory mechanisms both at the Central and state levels, he added.

In the port sector, the revised guidelines had opened up opportunities for 11 major ports to tie up with foreign ports and other prospective joint venture partners.

The government had also come forward with an ambitious plan to construct a six-lane expressway, north-south corridor. Disinvestment was another area where the government had demonstrated its committment with the successful offering of nine million shares of Container Corporation of India.

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka together accounted for a third of the country's gross domestic product, he said and added that there were investment opportunities in the sectors of power, transport, telecom, environment and transport in these states.

Singh said the United States continued to be the country's largest trade and investment partner. The trade between the two countries exceeded $ 10 billion during 1997-98 and the trend was positive. US investment partners had contributed to a quarter of the total foreign direct investment that had flown into the country since 1991.

The presence of more than 120 delegates at the summit itself was a telling commentary on the current state of the Indo-US relations, he said.

"It will remain our endeavour to continue to work closely together with business communities both in India and the US to reach greater heights of economic cooperation," he added.

Addressing the summit, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi expressed confidence that the two-day event would provide sufficient opportunities for the participants to know about the investment climate in the south.

He foresaw a greater role for south India in the coming decades. The south already accounted for more than 70 per cent of the software produced in the country and exported, he said.

UNI

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