Against the backdrop of opposition to outsourcing in the developed world, mainly the US, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Thursday informed a delegation of the US Congressmen Indian firms are a major source of employment in the American economy.
In a joint US Congress-German Bundestag meeting in New Delhi, Sharma said, "We need to engage more not less".
Indian industry, particularly the IT sector has been concerned over increasing resistance to outsourcing in the developed world.
Sharma said the US policy makers need to be sensitised about the mutual advantages of the outsourcing.
". . . it is well documented that for every job that is outsourced there are higher end jobs created in the outsourcing economies," he said.
He said there was a need to avoid protectionist tendencies
Sharma expressed hope that the US will restore the preferential market access for Indian goods like gems and jewellery under the Generalised System of Preferences.
The US GSP, a programme designed to promote economic growth in the developing countries by providing preferential duty-free entry for up to 4,800 products, had expired in December last.
He assured them of India's commitment to economic reforms, stating that several measures like liberalising manufacturing policy and foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail are in the pipeline.
These measures would prop up growth, he added.
On foreign direct investment, Sharma said the trend is looking good 'after a disappointing last year. We hope to make up for the lost ground this year'.
India's FDI increased by 133 per cent to $13.44 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
