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`India need not fear multinationals'

Our Correspondent

MADURAI, July 23

INDIA need not fear the entry of multinational corporations and the small-scale sector should group together and market a single brand to fight their way through the competition, Mr Bernard J. Alter, US Consul-General, has said.

Addressing a meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry here, Mr Alter said that time and again India has proved that it has the skills to compete with the best in the world.

Referring to the apprehensions of the industrialists in the WTO regime, he pointed out that India had its own MNCs in SPIC and Wipro. A company like Sundaram Fasteners is able to compete with the best in the world, despite not being an MNC, he added.

In terms of bilateral trade, India has been doing far better than the US after the advent of the WTO. Terms of trade has turned into a surplus, he said.

However, he felt that the case of the small-scale sector was a ``difficult one.'' The small units should look at the WTO as an opportunity and the best way to fight competition would be to group together and market a single brand, as has been attempted i n Tirupur by the hosiery units, he added.

Tracing the history of Indo-US relationship, Mr Alter said an aid-based relationship in the 1960s had transformed into a trade-based relationship now. Indian exports to the US had grown from $7.3 billion in 1997 to $10.6 billion in 2000. The relationship between the two countries, he said, has become more personal, at a people-to-people level.

Today, more people have started visiting the US and by 2002, they hoped to issue about one million temporary visas from India alone. Indian Americans have come to occupy positions of leadership in many US companies and many Americans have started visitin g India on a better understanding of its culture and places.

India's role in the global economy has also undergone a vast change in the last decade, he said and allayed the fears over being part of the world economy.

The Consul-General, in a reference to attracting foreign direct investment to Tamil Nadu, especially the southern districts, outlined three important factors -- contract, predictability and transparency. A contract was sacrosanct and there should be a pr edictability in the implementation of policies of the Government. Investors would be wary if the Government failed to implement its announced policies.

Mr Alter said one way of attracting more tourists to India from the US would be to have more bilateral agreements between the Air India and the airlines in the US. Tamil Nadu, he opined, had problems in marketing itself, unlike its neighbouring States.

Mr S. Rethinavelu, president of the chamber, in his presidential address, appealed to the Consul-General to assist in getting US investments for infrastructure development in Tamil Nadu in order to accelerate industrial activity.

The chamber offered to extend its cooperation in getting large-scale direct investments for south Tamil Nadu from the US. In this context, Mr Rethinavelu said, a trade delegation from the chamber would undertake a visit to the US soon.

He also appealed to Mr Alter to take steps for relaxing the visa formalities for Indian students intending to pursue their higher studies in the US.