Obama sets sights on India, China to revive US economy

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama’s budget aimed at rebuilding the country’s economy, emerging from the worst recession in generations, looks at India as one of the most important and promising emerging markets in the world.

Obama’s proposed $3.7 trillion spending plan for 2011 hopes to win the future by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building our global competitors and creating the jobs and industries of tomorrow, according to the White House.

“India is one of the most important and promising emerging markets in the world, and represents a tremendous opportunity for US firms to expand their output of goods and services,” the budget proposal presented Monday said.

“On the margins of the president’s trip to India in November, trade transactions were announced or showcased exceeding $14.9 billion in total value with $9.5 billion in US export content and that would support an estimated 53,670 jobs,” the White House noted.

These cross border collaborations, both public and private, underpin the expanding US-India strategic partnership, contributing to economic growth and development in both countries, it said.

Notable examples include the sale of commercial and military aircraft, gas and steam turbines and precision measurements instrumentation.

The budget proposals said the emergence of a global market place that includes the growing economies of China, India and other developing counties creates an opportunity for America to export US goods and services to new customers.

“With 95 percent of the world’s customers as well as the globe’s fastest growing markets beyond our borders, we must compete aggressively to spur economic growth and job creation,” the budget said.

Obama’s third annual budget says that it can reduce projected deficits by $1.1 trillion over the next decade, enough to stabilise the nation’s fiscal health and buy time to address its longer-term problems, the New York Times said citing a senior administration official.

Two-thirds of the reductions that Obama claims are from cuts in spending, including in many domestic programmes that he supports.

Among the reductions for just the next fiscal year, 2012, which starts Oct 1, are more than $1 billion from airport grants and nearly $1 billion from grants to states for water treatment plants and similar projects. Public health and forestry programmes would also be cut.

With Republicans in charge of the House, Obama’s budget is more a statement of his priorities and philosophy than an actual template for federal spending and tax policy, the Times noted.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)