US VP Joe Biden wants greater trade access to India
24 Jul 2013
US Vice President Joe Biden, today told an audience of business leaders at the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai that the business environment in India had to improve to open the way for greater bilateral trade, between the two countries, which ius currently at about $100 billion a year.
He said the problems facing Indo-US ties were related to protection of intellectual property, easing FDI limits, taxation issues and barriers to market access.
He said these issues had to be "negotiated and worked through in order to meet the potential of this relationship."
US drug manufacturers have been particularly hostile to the Supreme Court verdict denying patent protection on minor modifications to drugs losing patent protection, saying India needed to strengthen its intellectual property right (IPR) laws. They say some drugs made by Pfizer, Novartis, and Bayer have lost out to local generic drug companies, due to weak IPR.
After his speech, Biden held talks with some of India's most prominent business leaders. "There was an honest discussion about how both sides should be productive in reducing some of the barriers that impact trade and commerce," he said later.
For its part, India has opposed provisions in immigration legislation passed by the U.S. Senate that would make it harder for India's information technology workers to get temporary visas to work in the United States.
On Thursday, Biden is scheduled to pay a visit to the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), at Powai in central suburban Mumbai.
He is accompanied by his wife, US Second Lady Jill Biden, their daughter Ashley and son-in-law Howard D. Crein.
During the course of his visit, the Bidens will also visit the new premises of the US Consulate at Bandra-Kurla Complex, an embassy spokesperson informed.
On Thursday, Biden is scheduled to pay a visit to the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), at Powai in central suburban Mumbai.
He is accompanied by his wife, US Second Lady Jill Biden, their daughter Ashley and son-in-law Howard D. Crein.
During the course of his visit, the Bidens will also visit the new premises of the US Consulate at Bandra-Kurla Complex, an embassy spokesperson informed.
