PM's Trillion-Dollar Promise: 10 Things He Said to Investors in UAE
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged top businesses in the United Arab Emirates or UAE to invest in India, promising them immediate investment opportunities worth a trillion dollars.
1. He promised to erase the deficit of prime ministerial interactions of the past 34 years. He said though there are 700 flights between India and the UAE, it took 34 years for an Indian prime minister to visit and added, "I promise this will not happen again." Indira Gandhi was the last prime minister to visit in 1981.
2. He said he was well aware that US $1 trillion is a big amount but added that such investments can come to India now as it has a decisive and stable government.
3. In a comment that has rankled the Congress party, which led the previous UPA government, the PM said his immediate priority would be to kickstart things which were stalled by the "indecisiveness and lethargy" of past governments.
4. PM Modi said India's agriculture sector needs, "a cold storage network and warehousing a network where UAE businesses have an advantage."
5. "Infrastructure development and real estate offer tremendous opportunities for UAE businesses in India," the Prime Minister said.
6. The Prime Minster said he had been informed about problems being faced by businesses from UAE and promised, "I want to assure we are solving these problems."
7. He said he would send India's commerce minister to try and find solutions to the problems being faced by some investors.
8. PM Modi promised solutions to problems like the lack of a single window clearance and cumbersome and complex processes to do business in India, raised by businessmen at the meeting.
9. "It is now commonly believed that India is one of the fastest growing economies. There are several opportunities of development in India. I feel India is a land of many opportunities. The 125 crore people of India are not a market but they are a source of great strength," PM Modi said.
10. "On one hand India is growing fast and on the other hand, the world is looking at Asia. But is Asia complete without UAE? I can clearly see that the UAE should be at the centre of the mainstream of things in Asia. UAE's power and India's potential can make it Asia's century," PM Modi said.