By IANS
Mumbai : The US Treasury Department would support strengthening of India’s financial system so that Mumbai develops into an international financial centre (IFC), said US Secretary of Treasury Henry M. Paulson Jr. Monday here.
Paulson said that expansion of the financial sector through the development of Mumbai as an IFC would spell enormous opportunities for India.
“With Mumbai as an internationally competitive financial centre, the world can invest in India and India can invest in the world,” he observed.
Towards achieving this aim, he said the US private sector stands ready to share its expertise in dealing with domestic bond markets and other elements that create the backbone of a financial centre.
“Properly-regulated and well-functioning financial markets are the economic arteries through which balanced development and inclusive growth flows. Efficient markets provide the means to help all people, including those most in need to improve their lives, whether it be in India, the US or around the world,” he remarked.
Paulson pointed out that in recent times Indian firms in Bangalore and other cities are playing a key role in back office operations of multinational firms.
“In this, India has revolutionised the way the world does business. The next step is for India to develop front offices in Mumbai that provide financial services to companies and investors in India and across the region,” he asserted.
He cited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement in 2006 that Mumbai could emerge as a new financial capital of Asia and become the bridge between Asia and the West in the world of finance.
Commenting on advantages, Paulson Jr. said that past experience with new financial centres in other countries have proved that the overwhelming majority of jobs created would be for Indians.
In addition to financial services positions, many new jobs will be created in sectors providing support to the financial services industry. As more workers locate in Mumbai, they would help create additional jobs as they would require housing, food, transportation and other services, helping large and small business alike.
Shopkeepers, farmers and craftsmen need access to credit, financial services and insurance products and India’s middle-class would also benefit from new financial products that can lead to home ownership and education funding for their children, he said.
The treasury secretary also lauded the Indian government’s high-powered expert committee report outlining the requirements and a timetable for developing Mumbai into an IFC.