Ease of doing business, infrastructure rising; taxes, red-tapism falling: Modi in Thailand says best time to be in India
"India is now pursuing a dream to become a USD 5 trillion economy. When my government took over in 2014, India’s GDP was about USD 2 trillion. In 5 years, we increased it to nearly USD 3 trillion. This convinces me that dream of USD 5 trillion economy will soon be a reality," the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a three-day Thailand visit, in Bangkok on Sunday said that this is the best time to be in India, invest in India.
"This is the best time to be in India. Many things are rising while others are falling. Ease of doing business, ease of living, FDI, forest cover, patents, productivity, infrastructure are rising. While taxes, tax rates, red- tapism, corruption, cronyism are falling," Modi said during an event in Thailand capital Bangkok.
"India is now pursuing a dream to become a USD 5 trillion economy. When my government took over in 2014, India’s GDP was about USD 2 trillion. In 5 years, we increased it to nearly USD 3 trillion. This convinces me that dream of USD 5 trillion economy will soon be a reality," the Prime Minister said.
On Saturday, PM Modi addressed 'Sawasdee PM Modi' community programme in Bangkok which witnessed the participation of hundreds of members of Indian diaspora in Thailand.
PM Modi will also hold meetings with world leaders to discuss important bilateral and global issues during his three-day visit.
In an interview to Bangkok post on Saturday, PM Modi explained how important ASEAN, BIMSTEC and RCEP is for India and New Delhi's role in the global world.
During the community event, PM Modi said, "Once the Indo-Myanmar-Thailand highway i.e. Trilateral Highway starts, there will be seamless connectivity between North East India and Thailand is. This will increase trade, tourism as well as tradition in this region.
"We are developing Northeast India as a gateway to Southeast Asia. This part of India will give strength to both our Act East Policy and Thailand's Act West Policy," he said.
"Today, the average flight time between any two destinations of both countries is 2 to 4 hours. This is like if you are flying between two places in India itself. About 300 flights operate between the two countries every week. 18 destinations in India are directly connected to Thailand today," he added.
"Whether it is physical infrastructure or digital infrastructure, today we are expanding India's World Class facilities to connect Thailand and other ASEAN countries. Air, sea or road connectivity, India and Thailand are moving very fast," Modi said.
"Promoting our relations with ASEAN countries is our government's one of the foreign policy priorities. For this, we have given special importance to the Act East Policy. Last year, we marked silver jubilee the India-ASEAN dialogue partnership," the Prime Minister mentioned.
Mentioning his government's decision to abrogate Article 370, PM Modi said, "We're now working towards making the impossible come true. They were considered unimaginable. India has taken a massive decision to free itself from separatism and terrorism. Those in Thailand know what steps India took to curb terrorism, says PM Modi amid huge applause.