Economy & Trade
India is one of 112 countries to have ratified the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which took force on February 22 this year.
Intended to overcome the global slowdown in trade, the TFA introduces new best practices for member-states to ensure the easier movement of goods across international borders.
Nations who have ratified the agreement will be expected to implement changes to their customs infrastructure within two to three years. However, the basic set of provisions have to be implemented by the least-developed countries (LDC) within one year.
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By Bradley Dunseith
Australia’s growth prospects in India are expanding.
Among key opportunities identified by the country’s entrepreneurs are: investing in India’s higher education and vocational sectors and India’s growing renewables market. India’s rapid growth has resulted in the need for complex, skill-oriented jobs on one hand, and accelerated its energy consumption and requirements, on the other.
When looking at the Indian education and training sector, Australian investors observe that India’s large labor supply does not automatically serve the country’s high employment targets. Rather, the availability of labor is now becoming a challenge for the government as industrial innovation and automation necessitates up-skilling and technical training.
Accordingly, this sector has captured the imagination of startups and foreign investors – incentivized by the Modi government’s support for private sector participation.
In the case of India’s energy markets, Australia’s trade and business relationship with India previously centered on the former being a major supplier of coal to India. Today, as India is focused on developing its clean and renewable energies industry, Australian companies are embracing new opportunities in the fast-growing market.
In this article, we focus on how Australian businesses are investing in the above industries – education and clean energy. Lastly, we discuss how Australian investors can improve their experience in India by approaching the country’s markets on a state-by-state basis.
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By Vasundhara Rastogi
India’s e-commerce market is growing exponentially.
The latest data presented by the software industry body NASSCOM shows that India’s online market share grew at the rate of 19 percent last year and will touch an estimated US$33 billion in 2017.
In this article, we discuss some of the major drivers shaping the momentum in favor of e-commerce in India, as well as key legal and regulatory considerations for online businesses.
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By Bradley Dunseith
Canadian foreign direct investment (FDI) into India reached an estimated US$14 billion in 2016. Much of this inflow came from large asset management companies and pension funds, which see India as an ideal destination for stable, long term investments.
Summarizing this optimistic view of India’s economic growth, Michael Sabia, President and CEO of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), has called India’s potential “bright in a world of gray.”
Why are Canadian investors suddenly so charmed with India?
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NASSCOM forecasts decline in new IT jobs
In a sign of the troubling times in India’s information technology (IT) sector, industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has forecasted a major decline in new jobs created over the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. According to NASSCOM’s estimates, the IT sector will create 20 to 38 percent fewer new jobs in the fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 as compared to FY 2016-17.
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By Bradley Dunseith
India’s regulatory framework on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail is one of the most complex in the world. But, navigating this perplexing system means gaining access to one of the world’s fastest growing consumer markets.
This article outlines India’s regulatory landscape for FDI in retail while offering suggestions on how foreign businesses can successfully maneuver through them.
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Japan wants to invest more in the northeast
Highly placed sources have confirmed that Japan is seeking greater investment opportunities in India’s northeast region. Japan is particularly interested in developing road connectivity between states like Assam, Meghalaya, and Manipur to boost trade and regional growth.
Also benefiting from such investments will be improved commercial linkages between Asia and Africa via the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located in Myanmar. Dawei SEZ is jointly being developed by Japan, Thailand, and Myanmar, and connects the Indo-Pacific region.
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By Bradley Dunseith
On June 26, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to the White House under Donald Trump’s presidency. The Indian government billed the visit as a “no frills” meeting between the two leaders tasked with forging a new relationship predicated on reaffirming economic ties and shared security concerns.
While Modi’s American visit may have lacked the fanfare of his previous trips under the Obama administration, it was well-timed to greet the new Trump administration and maintain the positive economic and political relations cultivated over the last twelve years.
More importantly, Modi’s visit sought to address key grievances that have emerged in the bilateral ties due to President Trump’s socioeconomic priorities, namely, creating jobs and asserting American interests when drafting trade and business deals.
Further, in meeting with the CEOs of leading American companies, Modi took the opportunity to invite American businesses to partake of India’s improving business landscape.
With Trump’s new ‘America first’ international outlook, foreign investors are looking more closely at Asian economies, including India, to take advantage of concessions and increasingly relaxed trade barriers. At the same time, India is keen on strengthening its economic and business ties with the US. Consequently, India can be expected to interact more directly with America’s private sector for the kind of support previously provided by the US government.
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INDIA BRIEFING
