India set to be 'extremely attractive' place for business:
JaitleyBy Gurdip SinghSingapore, Nov 15 (PTI) With greater digitisation andformalisation of financial activities and businesses, Indiais set to become an "extremely attractive" country to dobusiness, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here today.
Speaking at the Singapore Fintech Festival, Jaitley saidthe ongoing process of digitisation was a result of Aaadharscheme coupled with financial inclusion, post demonetisationfollowed by the massive exercise on the improvement in thedigital eco-payment system as well as the introduction of theGoods and Services Tax from July 1, 2017.
With greater digitisation and greater formalisation,India is set to become an extremely attractive place to dobusiness, he said.
Jaitley drew the conference's attention to India'simproved ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing businessindex released on October 31.
India jumped up 30 notches into the top 100 rankings onthe World Bank's ease of doing business index.
He, however, acknowledged short-term challenges for thecountry in implementing strategic initiatives such asdemonetisation and the GST.
"But I have not the least doubt in my mind that themedium to long term, this is bound to produce long-termreturns as far as the Indian economy is concerned," saidJaitley.
The finance minister painted a big picture of the Indianeconomy, saying it is growing at a reasonable rate,integration of the formal with the informal economy as well asstructural changes are taking place while the tax base itselfis expanding.
A lot of transaction, that took place through the casheconomy, is today getting increasingly digitalised and goingthrough the banking system, he pointed out.
Jaitley, who is on a two-day visit to Singapore, willmeet Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and FinanceMinister Heng Swee Keat latoday.
Tomorrow, he will meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,and speak at the annual Asia Pacific Summit of globalfinancial institutions being organised by Morgan Stanley. PTIGS PMS AKJPMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.