Thursday, September 1 2005 20:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Stating that India was an attractive destination for long-term investments, US Ambassador to India David C Mulford today (Sept 1, 2005) called for further removal of restrictions to attract more US investors.

Addressing a meeting organized by Confederation Of India Industry (CII) in Chennai, he said that transformation of India's economy was on and US could help India advance this process.

US private sector could participate in India's market economy.

"However, we need to work on removing barriers," he said.

Calling for settlement of unresolved issues and removal of restrictions on retail and financial sector, he said, "US is not here to dictate but to make available its assistance and help India realising its dream of achieving higher growth."

The overall legacy problems had undermined the image of India, he said and urged the country to improve its image to attract more foreign investments.

"Foreign and private banks were restricted from their ability to grow," he said.

He underlined the need for further reforms in the financial sector. The country's strength was its savings habit but it had the poorest monitoring system. It should encourage development of capital market for long term and essential measure need to be taken to liberalize the market.

Compared to China, he said India was a better place for long-term investments.

"India's financial sector is good, but it has to move faster," he added.

Mentioning that trade and investment are linked together, he said that changes should take place to address the long-term disputes and issues.