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Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee welcomes FDI

     Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and senior Left leader, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who had raised a storm by defying party leaders by his pro-reforms policies on Thursday sought more foreign investment, promising better infrastructure. Bhattacharjee, who returned after his successful visits to Singapore and Indonesia, in an interview to ANI, in Kolkata, said that they were encouraging foreign direct investments, as without it, they would perish. "At a political level we have started this debate and this discussion we have to teach it inside the party. We took a resolution on what should be our attitude towards FDI (Foreign Direct Investment), on disinvestments, about restructuring, about reforms. We have started these discussions because the world is changing. We have to formulate new policies according to the new concrete situation. Therefore in FDI we have reached a consensus. We welcome FDI to improve our productive forces, particularly technology," he said. He said that Indian communists had changed over the past decade, learning their lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of China and economic reforms in communist Vietnam. Bhattacharjee said he was determined not to give in to loneliness, adding that he saw hope in China, which had emerged as the world's fastest-growing economy by drawing in foreign investment while keeping political and economic control firmly in the hands of the Communist Party. "I am trying to formulate a new policy towards east and Southeast Asia. Our trade is increasing and I am trying to augment our delivery system, infrastructure. We need more ports and we have to augment these present port facilities in Haldia in Kolkata and both airports at Dumdum. If we can improve these port structure particularly cargo capacity, then we will get the results," he said. "The Prime Minister's visit was a clear indication that our business with East in Southeast Asian countries is already increasing and it will further increase in the future. He told me that you have to take full advantage of your location advantage, as West Bengal, Kolkata is the gateway to the East. I am in touch with the Japanese government and companies, their FDI investment in India is the highest, and then the Chinese are also coming. They have already come in a power project, the Greenfield project," Bhattacharjee added. He said that agricultural reforms in West Bengal had strengthened its rural economy and helped the state economy grow by an average of seven percent annually in the past 12 years, faster than India's overall growth rate. The state government was now building on its strong agricultural base to develop the industrial sector, using an abundance of resources such as coal, iron-ore and minerals, he added. West Bengal has after initially focusing on land reforms, is now, actively courting investment. West Bengal has already attracted a George Soros-affiliate to set up eastern India's biggest petrochemical plant near Kolkata at a cost of 1.2 billion dollars.

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