The LiveMint newspaper on July 23 quoted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assaying that the “Act East” policy of the National Democratic Alliancewas intended to cultivate extensive economic and strategic relations inSoutheast Asia.
“In order to catalyseinvestments from the Indian private sector in this region, a projectdevelopment firm will, through separate special purpose vehicles, set upmanufacturing hubs in CLMV countries”, he said.
The project development company will be managed under the GlobalProcurement Consultants Ltd, a consulting firm promoted by theExport-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank).
Thesubsidiary will create a number of special purpose vehicles with privateentities, acquire a special economic zone or industrial park, developit and then allocate space in it to business entities in India againstpayments.
Vietnam is expected to be the first destination for investment in which a textile industrial park could be developed.
In addition, Vietnam is among 12 member nations joining ongoingnegotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
India hopes its presence in Vietnam would smooth the way to enter themarkets of developed member countries, including the United States andCanada.
Indian exports to the CMLV nationssurged 38 percent to 6.4 billion USD in 2013-2014 while imports reached 4billion USD, up 4.2 percent year-on-year.
The four nations are among the fastest growing economies in the region, particularly in the agriculture sector.-VNA