PM invites Malaysian firms to look at opportunities in India

With India poised to focus on infrastructure development in a massive way, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today invited Malaysian companies to look at the "new" and "excellent opportunities" with a promise of making the FDI procedures "simple" and "predictable".

Singh hailed Malaysian companies particularly in the infrastructure sector for their good reputation and asked them "to take a long term and strategic view" of the Indian economy and market.

He noted that India has already liberalised the FDI regime and wanted to ensure a policy framework that is "transparent, predictable, simple and reduces regulatory burden".

In an interview to Malaysian newspaper the New Strait Times ahead of his official visit here, Singh said, "I agree with you that infrastructure is an impediment and we are full conscious of this. We have announced a massive spending programme for infrastructure development."

He said he recognised that this cannot be done by the government alone because the resources required are huge, apparently referring to plans to spend one trillion dollars for development of infrastructure.

Pointing out that the investments in the infrastructure sector would have to be supplemented by the private sector, he said his government was making efforts to improve the terms and conditions on which public-private partnership projects are awarded to ensure that the process is transparent, bidding is competitive and at the same time public interest is adequately safeguarded.

Seeking participation of Malaysian companies, Singh said that the sustained growth of the Indian economy and significant new demands in the infrastructure sector present an excellent opportunity for Malaysian companies in the coming years. "We welcome investments by Malaysian businesses."

Singh referred to the successful joint venture between GMR and Malaysian Airports Holdings in the New Delhi and Hyderabad airports and said these were excellent examples of work done by Malaysian your companies.

"Malaysian companies enjoy a good reputation in India. We invite them to look at new opportunities, including in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor," he said.