Ahead of the next week’s India-US Economic and Financial Partnership meet, a top Obama administrator has said that there are a lot of barriers in realising the full potential of bilateral trade and business relationship.
“The US businesses are extremely excited about investing in India’s market and exporting more but there are a lot of barriers still to realise the full potential,” the Treasury for International Affairs Under Secretary, Ms Lael Brainard, told a group of reporters here.
The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, is slated to reach Washington tomorrow leading a high-power delegation to participate in the second India-US Economic and Financial Partnership meet.
The first one was held in New Delhi.
The US Treasury Secretary, Ms Timothy Geithner, would lead the American delegation.
“I know India has a reforms agenda and we believe that when that agenda really moves forward fully, it will create tremendous opportunities for greater bilateral trade and investment,” the top Treasury official said.
Ms Brainard said America’s focus is on trying to move the two countries closer and reforms that are extremely important.
The barriers are having to do with market access and reforms, she said, adding that as India moves forward infrastructure agenda will create opportunities and also a more vibrant business environment.
“So we will talk about the reforms agenda on both sides and how we can participate in each others growth,” she said.
Giving a preview of the two-day meet scheduled for June 27—28, the Treasury official said the delegations would also talk about macroeconomics. “We have different challenges. We were closely together in G20 in particular,” she said.
“US of course have just gotten through with a series of very ambitious reforms to its financial sector and we are trying to get economy growing in full potential again even as we start to bring our fiscal deficit down,” she said.