New Delhi's "Look East" policy is getting noticed and resulting in tangible gains for the country's business and industry, the president of an apex Indian business chamber said here Saturday.
"India is now being seen as a country that can both benefit and help because of its growing relations with the Southeast Asian neighbours and partners," said Sunil Kant Munjal, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
"This is evident from our interactions with business leaders of the Association of South-East Asian Nations and ASEAN's partners like China and Japan," Munjal told IANS.
Some 500 industrialists from India, China, South Korea and the 10 ASEAN members have gathered here for the ASEAN Business Investment Summit, just ahead of the India-ASEAN summit to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Nov 29-30.
The 10 member countries of ASEAN are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Munjal said the ASEAN business leaders started recognising India's potential as a good and promising partner at the Bali summit last year and now view it as a country with which it can both benefit from and share developmental experiences.
The CII president gave the example of the Laos-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre inaugurated by External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh Saturday to impart business and entrepreneurial skills to the people of Laos.
"While we have enough expertise in the growth of small and medium enterprises in our country, we too can learn from the experiences of some ASEAN members in the area. Of course it is for us to derive the benefits."
According to Munjal, some areas where the chamber sees two-way potential for trade and economic cooperation are tourism, agriculture and food processing.
Meanwhile, CII is scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sunday for enhancing bilateral business and economic ties.
The CII delegation here includes the chamber's vice president Y.C. Deveshwar, its director general N. Srinivasan, Kirloskar Brothers chairman Sanjay Kirloskar and Futurelinks chief executive Jesudas Bell.
The Indian contingent will get a chance to meet participants of the first India-ASEAN Car Rally that was flagged off from Guwahati by the prime minister Nov 22.
Manmohan Singh is scheduled to flag off the second leg of the rally, along with the representatives of its co-organisers, CII, from the Laotian capital Vientiane Nov 30. The rally culminates in Indonesia.
--Indo-Asian News Service