by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Reports, Economy, Large Enterprise, Markets, News, Politics
Kapil Sibal
New Delhi : The Congress on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “patting himself in the back” over the World Bank report on India’s ease of doing business, saying it was only for the “creamy layer of businesses” and that the Prime Minister was “not well-informed about its facts”.
The party said that Prime Minister Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should also hold a press conference on India’s slide in the global hunger index.
Prime Minister Modi on Saturday attacked the Congress for questioning the World Bank Report on ease of doing business in India and said with GST and other reforms, its report next year would show further improvement in ranking.
“I don’t know whether the Prime Minister is informed about all the facts or not. I don’t think he is aware of the concept of ease of doing business.
“Prior to 2015, there was only one city in every country that was taken into account and that was Mumbai (for the World Bank Report). Now, in 2015, they changed it to two cities. So, Mumbai and Delhi are the two cities for business in India,” said Congress leader Kapil Sibal.
“The businesses don’t take place only in these two cities of the country. The PM has forgotten that there are crores who do small businesses in other cities of the country. Is the PM thinking about them – the informal sector, small traders and factories,” he added.
Sibal said: “He is the Prime Minister of the country and all the business communities, and not just a handful of them. This is called creamy layer of businesses.
“He is not the Prime Minister of the creamy layer of businesses who are located at the top end of the pyramid in Delhi and Mumbai,” he added.
Sibal said the two factors taken into consideration for the report were e-filing, which he said was started by the UPA government, and Insolvency Act which was also conceived by the Congress-led UPA.
“Now the World Bank does not consider the impact of all this. So, I do not know why the Prime Minister is patting himself on the back. Does he realise that our Health Index has gone down from 87 to 108. Why does not he (Modi) or Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) do a press conference on that?” Sibal asked.
“The global Hunger Index in India is worse than most countries of the world. Why does the Finance Minister not do a press conference on that?” he asked.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Economy, Investing, News, Politics
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday invited global investors to do business in India, which he said was “easier now” after his government repealed archaic laws and launched attractive fiscal incentives.
Describing India as “one of the fastest growing economies” in the world, Modi said it was an opportune time for global businesses to invest in the country.
“India has jumped 30 ranks this year in the World Bank’s (Ease of) Doing Business rankings. India was ranked number one in the world in 2016 in greenfield investment.
“India is also rapidly progressing on the Global Innovation Index, Global Logistics Index and Global Competitiveness Index,” Modi told the gathering of global businessmen at the inauguration of World Food India 2017 here.
Billed as the biggest congregation of global investors and business leaders of major food companies, the three-day event aims to transform the food economy and realise the government’s vision of doubling famers’ income by establishing India as a preferred investment destination and sourcing-hub for the global food processing industry.
“Private sector participation has been increasing in many segments of the value chain. However, more investment is required in contract farming, raw material sourcing and creating agri-linkages. This is a clear opportunity for global chains.”
Modi said India offered single window clearance for investors and had launched attractive fiscal incentives.
“There are opportunities in post-harvest management, like primary processing and storage, preservation infra, cold chain and refrigerated transportation.
“There is also immense potential for food processing and value addition in areas such as organic and fortified foods.”
He said food processing was a way of life in India that had been practiced for ages.
“Simple, home-based techniques, such as fermentation, have resulted in the creation of our famous pickles, papads, chutneys and murabbas that excite both the elite and the masses across the world.”
Modi said farmers were central to India’s efforts in food processing and as such the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana to create world-class food processing infrastructure.
“This will leverage investment of $5 billion, benefit two million farmers and create more than half a million jobs.”
The food event will host over 2,000 participants and 200 companies from around 30 countries.
Apart from representatives of 28 states, it will also see participation of 18 ministerial and business delegations, nearly 50 global CEOs along with heads of all leading domestic food processing companies.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Rabat : Despite descending in the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking, Morocco continues to stand in third place in the MENA region and first in North Africa.
Morocco ranked 69th out of 190 rated countries, losing one position compared to the previous year’s report, revealed the World Bank in its 2018 Doing Business report, which “provides objective measures of business regulations for local firms” through the world, Morocco World News reported.
With a score of 67.91 points, Morocco’s business climate remains much more favorable than that of its neighbors in North Africa; Tunisia ranks 88th, Egypt 128th, and Algeria 166th.
The report indicated that Morocco was able to rise up to the third position among the MENA countries, behind the United Arab Emirates at 21st place and at Bahrain 66th, and ahead of Oman at 71st.
At the level of Africa, Morocco maintained its third place behind Mauritius at 25th place and Rwanda at 41st.
The ranking shows that Morocco has achieved desirable results in terms of its performance in the categories of “creation of a company” at the 17th position and “payment of taxes” at the 25th place.
“Morocco made starting a business easier by combining the stamp duty payment with the application for business incorporation,” said the World Bank.
The country was also favored for its cross-border trade at the 65th position and the granting of building permits at the 17th place.
On the other hand, Morocco’s ranking was hurt by legal and regulatory indicators, such as insolvency regulation at the 134th position and loans at 105th.
The list was topped by New Zealand, Singapore, and Denmark, while Venezuela, Eritrea, and Somalia came in last.
—SM/OIC-UNA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate finance, Corporate Governance, Large Enterprise
New Delhi : Streamlining taxation along with healthy competition among states to attract domestic and global investors will help India break into the top 50 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C.R. Chaudhary said on Thursday.
“We need to think about providing incentives to the industry and we have been simplifying the procedures,” Chaudhary said here while inaugurating an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) Ease Doing Business Summit.
He said that it is due to the efforts of all the stakeholders that India leaped 30 spots to 100th rank in the World Bank’s latest global rankings.
“Our target is to come at 50th place and that will happen when we facilitate industrialists and investors.
“Without encouraging the manufacturing sector and without foreign direct investment (FDI), we cannot develop and come in the category of developed countries,” he added.
He urged the industry to take steps to improve the quality of their products thereby adhering to “zero defect and zero effect” policy.
“We need to maintain quality otherwise it will become very difficult for us to sustain in the international markets.”
In this regard, he referred to the European Union’s ban on India’s basmati rice exports because of certain “technical points”.
“We had sought time in our last meeting with representatives of France, President of Czech Republic as we need to spread awareness among farmers about not to sprinkle such pesticides.
“It is a very positive thing for our private players and entrepreneurs who are now directly collaborating with foreign companies and getting investments in the country which has been facilitated through ease of doing business,” Chaudhary said.
Lauding the government’s efforts in attracting a record $60 billion worth of FDI in a single year, he invited the domestic and global investors to reap dividends by investing in the infrastructure and logistics sector that provide huge scope.
He also said that the government’s main focus is on enhancing production of quality material, attracting domestic and foreign investments in large numbers, enhancing exports and creating more employment opportunities.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Large Enterprise, News, Politics
Italian PM Paolo Gentiloni (left)
New Delhi : Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni arrived here on Sunday on a two-day state visit to India, the first such visit in a decade, in a bid to boost ties between New Delhi and Rome after the faceoff over two Italian marines.
Romano Prodi was the last Italian Prime Minister to visit India in February 2007.
“Coming after a gap of more than a decade, the visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral, political and economic relations between the two countries,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement ahead of Gentiloni’s visit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold delegation-level talks with Gentiloni on Monday following which a number of agreements are expected to be signed.
Gentiloni will also call on President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu during his visit.
Diplomatic ties between India and Italy virtually came to a near freeze following the February 2012 firing by two Italian marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, from M.V. Enrica Lexie, killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala.
India took the marines into custody though Italy claimed the ship was in international waters and the case should be handled by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas (Itlos) at The Hague.
In September 2014 Latorre was allowed to return to Italy on health grounds following a Supreme Court order. In May 2016, Girone too was allowed to return. Both the marines are now in Italy awaiting an order from the Itlos.
The stand-off between New Delhi and Rome affected the talks for a free trade pact between the European Union and India.
Indo-Italian ties got a breather when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited the Vatican in September last year for the canonisation of Mother Teresa.
According to official figures, Italy is among India’s five largest trading partners in the EU, with bilateral trade at $8.79 billion in 2016-17.
India’s exports to Italy total $4.90 billion and imports $3.89 billion, resulting in a trade balance of $1 billion in favour of India. In the first four months of fiscal 2017-18, bilateral trade has reached $3.22 billion.
Italy is the 13th largest investor in India with cumulative investments worth $2.41 billion from April 2000 to June 2017. The top five sectors in India that attract Italian investments are automotive industry, trading, service sector, industrial machinery and food processing industry.
There are over 600 Italian companies active in India covering various sectors such as fashion, garments, textile and textile machinery, automotive, automotive components industry, infrastructure, chemicals, energy, confectionery and insurance.
—IANS
