Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will next week urge business leaders in Canada and the US to keep their faith on India’s economic growth story.
During his week-long official tour to these two countries, Chidambaram is expected to spell out the reform agenda of the UPA in its last year in office.
Special focus could be on financial sector, what with the Reserve Bank of India gearing up to award new bank licences in the coming months. The Government is also hopeful of pushing through the insurance laws (amendment) Bill in the budget session itself.
A hike in foreign direct investment limit in insurance is a key bone of contention between the ruling combine and opposition parties.
Industry interface
In the first leg of his journey, Chidambaram will visit Canada on Monday. Besides holding a round-table meeting with Canadian Council of Chief Executives at Toronto, he will meet his counterpart James Flaherty at Ottawa later in the day. He will also meet Mark Carney, Governor, Bank of Canada.
In the second leg of his foreign tour, Chidambaram will reach Boston on April 16. He will deliver an address on the theme of ‘Rise of East: Implications for the Global Economy” at Harvard University on the same day.
Both in Boston and later in New York, Chidambaram will address representatives of sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, university endowment funds and insurance funds. Chidambaram will hold one-to-one meetings with the President and CEOs of leading US companies, it is learnt.
During the last leg of his foreign visit, Chidambaram will reach Washington on April 18 to participate in World Bank/IMF spring meetings. The Finance Minister will also attend G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting being held on the sidelines of IMF-WB meetings.
Chidambaram will also hold bilateral talks with US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew at Washington D.C.
Chidambaram will return to Delhi on April 22.