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US urges India for stricter patent laws

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Mumbai

Stressing on the need for stronger patent protection, US Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Alan P Larson said India should not wait till 2005 but implement patent laws at the quickest possible time.

Stronger patent protection for pharmaceutical companies is very important not only for research and development, but also for the overall growth of the sector, he said.

Larson, who was on a day's visit to Mumbai met reporters to express his views on various economic issues concerning India and the United States.

On trade tariffs

Larson said that tariff levels prevalent in the US are far lower than many countries. Even though the US took temporary safeguard measures on steel, India was largely spared from that law. Larson reiterated that his country worked within the framework of the World Trade Organisation.

On Republican victory in the US Senate

Stating that President George Bush was strongly committed to strengthening bilateral relations with India, Larson said, "we have seen tremendous advancement in cooperation in different fields with India and I expect that to continue."

On Enron crisis

Larson said the issue is about corporate governance. The President has taken strong action against that and has approved the Oxley Act, which makes the chief executive of a company personally responsible for any mistake. "Enron is one of the thousands and thousands of companies in the United States. What Enron officials did was shameful. But the good thing about our system is that these people get punished," he added.

On the investment atmosphere in India

"I feel there is tremendous potential in the knowledge-based industry and the pharmaceutical sector. But there are other issues like infrastructure and education. Education is very important to all sections of the society and investors look into all these factors."

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