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This is great news for India with its meager exports of just $210 billion estimated for 2010-2011 March financial year, in 15th place behind countries such as Netherlands, Belgium, Singapore, and Spain.
There is no shortage of business acumen in India, given the Marwa and other business Castes who have genetically developed excellent business practices over many millennial years, and the reason why they become multi-millionaires in a few years in foreign countries, with just pennies in their pockets, especially First World countries where their business acumen and hard work melds with sound infrastructure and normal business practices in the modern state.
But in modern India, save for Gujarat maybe, and only very recently......to be a successful businessman you also have to have gangster links, and political skills.....and finally the tenacity to stick with it, given the level of corruption and the number of people that have to be bribed to get one certificate stamped, for labor, environment, capital, tax, union rights and so forth.
This is why India's exports are so low.
In fact India's exports could be closer to $300 billion, because there is also considerable under reporting of actual exports, because nobody wants to pay tax.
FTA's are fine if along with this a real government with real intent can over haul the business environment into a far more transparent and friendlier one than it is now IN INDIA.......otherwise FTA's end up favoring the other side (Japan). Somehow a genuine Indian government has to find the genius and the correct incentives to overturn the colonial mentality which positively discouraged large scale business in India for obvious reasons. The colonial super structure is still there in India, and that needs to be shed.
All the laws and regulations need to be reviewed. Gujarat has done it, and so can the rest of India.
One also thinks that India should also sign FTA's with Pakistan, and Bangladesh very soon, for economic reasons, AND political reasons, AND for strategic reasons.
This makes MORE sense.
There is no shortage of business acumen in India, given the Marwa and other business Castes who have genetically developed excellent business practices over many millennial years, and the reason why they become multi-millionaires in a few years in foreign countries, with just pennies in their pockets, especially First World countries where their business acumen and hard work melds with sound infrastructure and normal business practices in the modern state.
But in modern India, save for Gujarat maybe, and only very recently......to be a successful businessman you also have to have gangster links, and political skills.....and finally the tenacity to stick with it, given the level of corruption and the number of people that have to be bribed to get one certificate stamped, for labor, environment, capital, tax, union rights and so forth.
This is why India's exports are so low.
In fact India's exports could be closer to $300 billion, because there is also considerable under reporting of actual exports, because nobody wants to pay tax.
FTA's are fine if along with this a real government with real intent can over haul the business environment into a far more transparent and friendlier one than it is now IN INDIA.......otherwise FTA's end up favoring the other side (Japan). Somehow a genuine Indian government has to find the genius and the correct incentives to overturn the colonial mentality which positively discouraged large scale business in India for obvious reasons. The colonial super structure is still there in India, and that needs to be shed.
All the laws and regulations need to be reviewed. Gujarat has done it, and so can the rest of India.
One also thinks that India should also sign FTA's with Pakistan, and Bangladesh very soon, for economic reasons, AND political reasons, AND for strategic reasons.
This makes MORE sense.
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India, Japan sign FTA agreement.Times of India.
Japan and India signed on Wednesday a bilateral free trade agreement that would abolish duties on more than 90% of trade for 10 years.
Japanese foreign minister Seiji Maehara and Indian commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma concluded the pact in a ceremony at the foreign ministry in Tokyo.
The pact will "promote a strategic partnership between the two countries so that they can establish win-win relations and achieve growth", Maehara said.
Sharma said the pact "provides an overarching framework to promote our economic cooperation, both trade and investment, which will be rewarding for both India and Japan".
"We have noted in our mind that this will usher in a new era of economic engagement, which will bring development, innovation and also prosperity in both of our societies," he said.
The deal would eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of Japanese exports to India, such as auto parts and electric appliances, and 97% of imports from India, including agricultural and fisheries products, until 2021, the Japanese government said.
The two countries have been negotiating since January 2007.
Japan and India are also to continue talks on lifting employment restrictions to allow Indians to work in Japan as nurses and care givers. Japan, which is bracing itself for increasing health care requirements as its population ages, hopes to conclude the talks within two years, the government said.
Japanese foreign minister Seiji Maehara and Indian commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma concluded the pact in a ceremony at the foreign ministry in Tokyo.
The pact will "promote a strategic partnership between the two countries so that they can establish win-win relations and achieve growth", Maehara said.
Sharma said the pact "provides an overarching framework to promote our economic cooperation, both trade and investment, which will be rewarding for both India and Japan".
"We have noted in our mind that this will usher in a new era of economic engagement, which will bring development, innovation and also prosperity in both of our societies," he said.
The deal would eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of Japanese exports to India, such as auto parts and electric appliances, and 97% of imports from India, including agricultural and fisheries products, until 2021, the Japanese government said.
The two countries have been negotiating since January 2007.
Japan and India are also to continue talks on lifting employment restrictions to allow Indians to work in Japan as nurses and care givers. Japan, which is bracing itself for increasing health care requirements as its population ages, hopes to conclude the talks within two years, the government said.
