US, India launch 'ease of doing business' group

Washington, Sep 23: As India and the US work to increase their bilateral trade five fold to $500 million, they have launched a joint work stream on the Ease of Doing Business while continuing discussions on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT). The launch of the work stream was announced on the conclusion of the first US-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue here Tuesday. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman co-chaired the dialogue with their US counterparts Secretary of State John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. The two sides have also agreed to support the efforts of the Harvard Business School and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad to develop a cluster map. This tool will help Indian companies integrate into global supply chains, strengthen India's economy and better enable American companies to identify markets for their products and services in India. Launch of a private sector-led Innovation Forum was also announced. It will serve as an additional avenue through which the two governments seek private sector feedback and input for bilateral discussions. A fact sheet issued at the end of the dialogue noted that India-US bilateral trade has grown from $19 billion in 2000 to over $100 billion in 2014. US exports to India totalled $38 billion last year, supporting an estimated 181,000 US jobs. Cumulative Indian foreign direct investment in the US totalled $7.8 billion in 2014; US foreign direct investment into India was $28 billion. US-India CEO Forum offered suggestions in key areas such as business climate, smart cities and infrastructure financing, supply chain integration (including cold chain), aerospace/defence, and renewable energy among other topics.