2006年VOA标准英语-India, US Aim to Boost Economic Cooperatio

（单词翻译）

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
05 March 2006

 
President George W. Bush, left, with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during meeting
  
Economic cooperation was a major topic during the recent visit of President Bush to India, with the United States agreeing to an ambitious three-year target for doubling trade. A delegation¹ of top American business executives also accompanied the president, keen to explore investment opportunities in one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

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As the president visited India, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman accepted a challenge from his Indian counterpart (Trade Minister Kamal Nath) to push bilateral² trade to $50 billion in three instead of five years, as earlier targeted. Bilateral trade stood at over $28 billion last year.

The optimism is based on the growing interest among American businesses in India's vibrant³ economy.

The head of the financial services company JP Morgan Chase, William Harrison, co-chairs a forum⁴ of 20 major American and Indian companies that is outlining a plan to boost commercial collaboration⁵.

Harrison says U.S.-based multinationals⁶ see India as an important destination as it catches up with the other booming economy in the region - China. "You can't be a global CEO (Chief Executive Officer) today, doing your job and not really focusing on how you can do business in India. You just can't be. And, by the way, a lot of people love to compare China and India. It is not an 'either-or.' I think for most big multinational⁷ companies, you have got to be looking at both of them because they are both right at the top of the list of where you have got to be to do business in the future," he said.

Dozens of U.S. businesses already have a foothold in India. Technology companies Microsoft and Cisco have invested billions of dollars developing research centers in India to use its pool of skilled talent.

Other multinationals are targeting India's 300 million middle-class consumers, who buy Levis jeans, aspire⁸ to own a Ford⁹ car, and frequent McDonalds and Pizza Hut outlets¹⁰.

And the American defense¹¹ industry wants to sell warplanes and high-tech¹² weapons to India as the political relationship between the two nations enters a new phase.

Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told the visiting business executives the country wants more U.S. investment, especially to revamp its overburdened infrastructure¹³. "For the U.S. side it means a great opportunity, an opportunity to invest in India, in our roads, our rail network, or airports and seaports¹⁴, to use your acknowledged strengths in the financial sector¹⁵ and invest in our insurance sector and banking¹⁶ sector," he said.

But American businesses say India has to liberalize more rapidly, especially in fast-growing services such as banking, insurance and retail¹⁷, if U.S. investment there is to reach its potential.

JP Morgan Chase Chairman Harrison identifies other factors that intimidate¹⁸ American businesses thinking of increasing their stake in India. "It is infrastructure first, lack of infrastructure, and secondly¹⁹ the perception, real or not, of the bureaucracy, of doing business here; whether that is getting permits to do business, or getting licenses²⁰; whether it is the delay in the court system to settle contract disputes or whatever it is, there is a perception there that we think [all this] could be facilitated [speeded up]," he said.

The Indian-American business forum has several recommendations for removing obstacles to cooperation. These include speeding up infrastructure development in India, making Bombay a regional hub for the financial operations of U.S. companies, and increasing cooperation between top technical institutes.