Finance Minister P Chidambaram is embarking on a week long visit to Canada and the US on Sunday to sell India’s growth story to foreign investors and participate in the World Bank/IMF spring meetings in Washington.
During his tour, he is expected to talk about the recent steps taken by the government to speed up large projects and measures to bring down fiscal deficit.
With India facing high Current Account Deficit (CAD), Chidambaram has been touring major global financial hubs like Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore, to project the country as a investment destination. As per an official statement, in the first leg of his journey, Chidambaram will address the Canadian-Indian Business Council in Toronto on Monday and hold a Round Table Meeting with Canadian Council of Chief Executives in which about 15-20 CEOs of major Canadian companies are likely to participate. He will also meet his Canadian counterpart James Flaherty in Ottawa and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney.
On April 16 in Boston, the Finance Minister will deliver an address on the theme “Rise of the East: Implications for the Global Economy” at Harvard University. “He will also engage in open discussion with audience beside interacting with faculty and students of Harvard University,” the statement said.
Thereafter, Chidambaram will address leading sovereign wealth funds, provident funds, University Endowments and insurance funds, among others, in Boston and New York.
He will hold India road shows in Toronto, Ottawa, Boston and New York during his visits.
In New York (April 17), Chidambaram will have a luncheon meeting with Members of US-India Business Council (USIBC) and later hold one to one meeting with the Presidents and CEOs of leading US companies, the Finance Ministry said. The Finance Minister will reach Washington DC on April 18 to participate in World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings.
Among other engagements, he will participate in IMFC Plenary Meeting and Development Committee Meeting. He will also attend G-20 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ meeting being held on the sidelines of IMF-WB meetings.
Chidambaram will hold bilateral meetings during his visit to Washington with US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, among others. He will also participate in an event at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, before leaving for New Delhi on April 22. Sources said Chidambaram, accompanied by senior Finance Ministry officials and RBI Deputy Governor Urjit Patel, would also seek investments into various sectors, mainly infrastructure for which the government has pegged expenditure at nearly $1 trillion during the 12th Plan (2012-17).
