PM Narendra Modi invites Swiss business leaders to invest in India

GENEVA: Seeking to create two or three Switzerlands within India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today courted Swiss business leaders to boost domestic manufacturing and skill development.

Prime Minister Modi held wide-ranging talks with prominent business leaders from Switzerland including officials of ABB, Lafarge, Novartis, Nestle, Rieter and Roche.

Addressing a business-roundtable here, he told the Swiss watch industry that the diamonds on their watches come from Gujarat and "so I am fully sensitive to your concerns."

"Within my country I need to create 2 or 3 Switzerlands. So scope for partnership is immense," he told the business leaders. "We want to have manufacturing of global standards. Hence Swiss model of skill development very relevant for us."

India, he said, is not just a market of 1.25 billion. "We have skills and a government open to business."

Their discussion focused on ways to enhance trade cooperation between the two countries.

He also talked about government's commitment towards easing business environment in the country.

The Prime Minister urged the Swiss business leaders to explore the Investment opportunities in India.