Doha Bank CEO R Seetharaman at the Qatar Forum
NEW YORK: India and China will shadow the rapid development of other Asian neighbors with growth continuing for decades, and the buying power of the Indian and Chinese also increasing to almost match that of consumers in the US and European Union combined, according to R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank in Qatar.
India will become one of the most sustainable economies in the future and by 2030 Asia’s economy mainly encompassing India and China will be larger than that of the US and European Union combined, he said, addressing the Indian American media on the sidelines of Business & Investment in Qatar Forum in New York recently.
Seetharaman said the world has seen the recovery from emerging economies, mainly India and China had contributed to the global recovery from the current crisis.
Indian economy expected to grow at around 9 percent in 2011-12 and India’s inflation till Feb 2011 of 8.31 percent and food price inflation of 10.05 percent till March 2011 made India’s current account deficit is close to 3.5 per cent of its GDP.
He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects the world growth at 4.4 percent for 2011 with advanced economies projected to experience around 2.5 percent growth while emerging and developing economies including Middle East region projected to grow around 6.5 percent.
The G-20 countries predicted that India will be one of the 10 largest members in IMF and its rank in the IMF will improve to the eighth position from the current 11th in terms of quota. India – US trade increased by 30 percent in 2010 over 2009 to $49 Billion. Deals worth $10 billion signed by US companies with India will create over 50,000 jobs in the US. This made the UN estimate that India would contribute fully a quarter of addition to world’s workforce over next 10 years, Seetharaman said
India has sound and well regulated financial sector that was resilient to the crisis. India will persevere with implementing financial sector reforms to support rapid and inclusive growth in the real economy, and also to increase systemic stability in the financial sector.
Some of the major sectors in India that have immense potential are Infrastructure, agriculture and food processing, Information technology and education. Investment in physical infrastructure is expected go up to $1,000 Billion over the 12th Five year plan of 2012 -2013 to 2016 – 2017.
In India, the share of private structure in infrastructure investment has moved up from 2.2 percent of GDP in 2007-08 to 2.6 percent of GDP in 2009-10 and is expected to touch 3.3 percent of GDP by 2011-12.
Foreign investment receives encouragement with the budget increasing foreign institutional investment (FII) limit in corporate infrastructure bonds by $20 billion to $40 billion and also FIIs will also be allowed to invest in mutual fund schemes and will lead to lot more integration of markets.
According to Seetharaman discussions are also underway to further liberalize the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy. Government has cut many import duties and excise duties to curb inflation. Bank licenses are planned to be issued for new private sector players. Budget proposes speeding up of various financial sector reforms. Plans are there to create Rs 100 crore equity funds for micro finance companies.
Seetharaman was in New York as part of Qatari delegation to participate in the two-day Business & Investment in Qatar Forum last week at Waldorf Astoria Hotel addressed by Qatar Prime Minister Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani and Chairman & CEO, Exxon Mobil Corporation, USA Rex Tillerson.
Economic Advisor in The Amiri Diwan Dr. Ibrahim Al Ibrahim; Executive Board Member, Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar Dr. Hussain Al Abdullah and Executive Chairman, Qatar Science and Technology Park Dr. Tidu Maini were some of the dignitaries who spoke at the conference attended by over 600 top International and Arab bankers, economists and business professionals from the US and the Gulf region.
India Post News Service
