Ahluwalia to talk on 'India' at ASEAN Biz Summit

New Delhi, Nov 16: India will get special focus this weekend at the 2007 ASEAN Business and Investment Summit this year. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is hosting the “India Lunch" where Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission will pitch for India on Saturday, coinciding with the '2007 ASEAN Business&Investment Summit" in Singapore.

This summit is an annual affair held just prior to the political summit by the host ASEAN country attracts high-level businessmen and senior economic officials from ASEAN and dialogue partner countries China, India, South Korea and Japan.

N Kumar, Past President, CII and Vice Chairman, Sanmar Group who will represent Indian Industry at the Business Summit said “ASEAN provides Indian companies with exciting opportunities and we are working to capitalize on these opportunities and build lasting partnerships here"

He further added that “It is clear that the India-Asean Partnership is a win-win situation. India also brings to the partnership some unique comparative advantages and will broaden the range of complementarities. For instance, all and Southeast Asian countries specialise in manufacturing and hardware capabilities, India's comparative advantage is more in services and software, and in knowledge-based manufacturing. However, to fully enjoy these benefits measures should be put in place to eradicate the impediments standing in the way of full economic cooperation."

The CII luncheon meeting is aimed at promoting mutual investment, and spurring enterprises to focus on opportunities and prospects offered within the region. With sustained engagement over the years and as a part of India"s Look East Policy, the ASEAN region has become a preferred destination for Indian enterprises, and many corporates have already set up operations in the region. Their interests extend to almost all sectors in manufacturing and services

India, with its huge consumer market, and infrastructure requirement that is estimated to involve an investment of about 500 billion dollars over the next five years, presents a formidable opportunity for companies of the ASEAN region. With sustained economic growth over the next two decades, it is predicted, India would become one of the three largest economies of the world with large consumer markets and service and manufacturing industries.

The ASEAN Business and Investment Summit provides a great opportunity to build connectivity and relationship with high-level business representatives, government leaders and economic officials of the partner countries. It also presents a platform to showcase promising Small and Medium enterprises of India, which could be global players of the future.

ANI

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