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Clinton visit may lead to $4bn investment in India

NEW DELHI: United States President Bill Clinton's visit is likely to result in investments worth over $4 billion in two dozen projects in India and Bangladesh by American companies, said Secretary of Commerce William Daley.

"I am extremely hopeful we will see many, many more such signings," said Daley as he witnessed the signing of 11 business agreements between American companies and their Indian partners with an estimated total investment of $1.4 billion. Details of the projects in India and Bangladesh are not available, but US officials said a majority of them were in India.

The agreements signed were in environment (three), information technology (four) and energy (four). IT Minister Pramod Mahajan and Power Minister P R Kumaramangalam were also present at the signing ceremony.

"The President's trip to India provides a rich opportunity to promote American commercial interests in a country that has the world's fourth largest economy and a government committed to economic reform and a continued economic growth," Daley said.

The signing ceremony followed the launch of the inaugural session of the Indo-US Commercial Dialogue between Daley and his Indian counterpart, Commerce and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran. The dialogue, agreed upon during Clinton's talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, is aimed at "deepening the ties between the two countries by focusing on trade and investment issues in a broad range of sectors".

Indian Minister Parmod Mahajan said "the sky is the limit" for Indo-US cooperation in the IT sector. PPI