PM Modi invites ASEAN countries to ramp up investment in India

MANILA: Showcasing economic reform initiatives of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invited the ASEAN countries to ramp up their investment in India and said the task of transforming the country is proceeding at an "unprecedented scale".

Addressing the ASEAN Business Forum, the prime minister said India's 'Act East policy' puts the 10-member bloc at the centre of the country’s engagement adding that most sectors of the Indian economy were made open for foreign investment.

"Task of transforming India is proceeding at an unprecedented scale. We are working day and night towards easy, effective and transparent governance," he said.

The prime minister said the focus of his government has been to make India a global manufacturing hub and that efforts are on to make the youngsters job creators.

"Keeping our emphasis on 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance', about 1,200 outdated laws have been repealed in the last three years. We have simplified processes to start companies and for other clearances," he said.

Talking about the initiatives to introduce technology, Modi said digital transactions have increased significantly and that technology is being used to reach out to people.

He said large sections of India's population did not have access to banking services and added that the Jan Dhan Yojana changed that in a matter of months and transformed the lives of millions.

The trade ties between India and ASEAN are on an upswing and both sides want to further boost the trade and investment cooperation.

The ASEAN region along with India together comprises combined population of 1.85 billion people, which is one fourth of the global population and their combined GDP has been estimated at over USD 3.8 trillion.

Investment from ASEAN to India has been over USD 70 billion in the last 17 years accounting for more than 17 per cent of India’s total FDI.

India’s investment in ASEAN during the same period has been more than USD 40 billion.