'PM visits boost India's perception as investment destination'

New Delhi, Dec 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to countries like the US, Australia and Japan have contributed significantly in building India's perception as a promising and stable investment destination among global investors, a survey has found.

The poll was done by Assocham's foreign offices in the US and Australia for sensing the mood of multi-national companies which have either already established presence in India or are seriously eyeing India as a business destination.

Over 71 per cent of the senior level functionaries of these firms said that India tops the chart among the emerging countries as an investment destination, while as many as 53 per cent said that India could even overtake China as an investment destination in terms of growth potential.

"There was an across-the-board consensus about Prime Minister Narendra Modi being a very good communicator and who is able to establish a contact with the global community with as much ease as he is able to do at home," the survey noted.

Significantly, 73 per cent of the 161 respondents spread across the US, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East said Modi will be able to deliver on his promises on ease of doing business, improving basic infrastructure and on debottlenecking the policy issues.

An overwhelming 89 per cent of the respondents said it is the leadership in India which has made all the difference in the perception of global investors, helped by continuous domestic growth story.

The survey further indicated that companies based in Australia want to build on the Prime Minister's flagship programmes of smart cities, cleaning Ganga and improving urban infrastructure.

PTI