 "Chidambaram to woo investors in UK, France and Qatar")
New Delhi: In a bid to sell India story and lure overseas investments, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today embarked on a three-nation tour to UK, France and Qatar.
During the 5-day tour, Chidambaram will hold a meeting with his UK counterpart George Osborne and address investor conferences. He will also hold meetings with leading UK investors.
Leading a delegation, Chidambaram will participate in the Sixth Ministerial India UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) tomorrow, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
[caption id=“attachment_785317” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption]
He will also have discussions on current financial sector reforms by UK and India’s regulatory bodies, it added. Chidambaram and Osborne are also likely to hold discussions on G-20 Clearing Committee on OTC derivatives, priority sector lending, Bangalore-Mumbai economic corridor and visa issues.
During the second lap of his foreign visit, Chidambaram would reach Paris on May 17, 2013.
He is scheduled to hold a meeting with leading investors and have discussions with OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria during his one day stay in Paris.
Thereafter, Chidambaram will arrive in Doha, Qatar on May 18, 2013 where he will hold discussions with the Minister of Economic and Finance Yousef Hussan Kamal.
Chidambaram will also meet CEO of Qatar Investment Authority and CEO of Qatari Business Association among others.
Chidambaram’s meetings in Qatar will include CEOs of leading companies, banks and Pension Funds there. He will leave for India on May 19.
The Finance Minister will be accompanied by Department of Economic Affairs Additional Secretary Shaktikanta Das and RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha, among others. Chidambaram earlier held similar investor meets in Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe, Japan, Germany, Frankfurt, Canada and the United States to attract foreign investment into India.
India is betting big on foreign resources to finance the Current Account Deficit (CAD), which has widened to record high of 6.7 per cent in October-December quarter of 2012-13.
In his earlier meetings with the investor community, Chidambaram had expressed India’s commitment to economic reforms. He also highlighted the measures proposed in the Budget 2013-14 for markets and investments to help the economy grow at 6.1-6.7 per cent.
PTI
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