According to a study by Mercer, India-based multinationals have been forced to a address numerous new policy issues. The most common issues that multinationals have had to deal with are those pertaining to international assignments. Companies have been trying to reduce costs by hiring local staff instead of making an expatriate assignment.

According to a senior government official, investment in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) will hit RS 2 trillion by the end of 2009. The government has given official approval to 513 SEZs and 138 others have been granted in-principle approval till date. Investments in SEZs should generate approximately 8 million jobs.

Moderation in the economy in the short-term could be because of high inflation, rising commodity prices, high oil prices, increasing fiscal deficits and global uncertainties, Edelweiss said in its annual report. The Indian debt market would continue to perform better provided issues such as non-availability of trading platform, central clearing and settlement, stringent documentation requirements and secondary market volumes are addressed, the report said.

Sugar prices in India may sky-rocket this coming season unless the government release 5,000,000 tonnes of the sweetener into the open-market, for the October-December quarter. In response to this the government ordered 3,000,000 tonnes of sugar to be released into the market this however proved to be difficult as the mills have not complied as such the Centre issued show-cause notices to each of them. To make things worse it has been discovered that these mills are defaulters and had no sugar to release as they had already exported the buffer stock or sold it at high prices in a supply-strained market.

India will lose two ranks in list of world's top rice exporters in calendar year 2008 to Pakistan. According to the latest report of the US Agriculture Department (USDA), India will lose two ranks in the list to become the fourth largest rice exporter in calendar year 2008 while Pakistan would improve its position to the third Largest. While Thailand will remain at the top with an estimated 10 million export followed by Vietnam at 4.7 million tons. In addition, Pakistan may export 3 million tons while India 2.8 million tons in 2008.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have signed the FTA to boost bilateral trade some time in the past, but it did not achieve the desired results. To boost bilateral trade,Pakistanis invited Sri Lanka to visit and see the beautiful country. The High Commissioner also invited the business community to participate in the SAARC country exhibition scheduled to be held in Colombo from August 28 -31, this year.

India's tea exports declined from 25 percent to 10 percent to preferred suppliers like Kenya and Turkey, an ICRA study points out. In term of the country's exports annual growth rate, tea exports have declined 2.6 per cent between 1998-2007 period.In 2007, the exports declined by 28.4 percent at 156.7 million kg.

According to the WTO, Pakistan exports have touched $1.4 billion, and they have the potential to increase manifold within few years. With the government implementing policies that boost growth in the IT sector and create employment opportunities in the country, the Federal Secretary is expecting Pakistan software exports to grow by 50% by the next fiscal year.

The 2 sides took note of the global macro economic issues and the matter of climate change. At the end of the meeting, both the Finance Minister and the Chancellor agreed to reduce GHG emissions without compromising growth and development, and to work towards the creation of a larger and deeper carbon market, and to explore the possibility of providing the necessary financial flows and technology transfers to developing countries.

In an effort to reduce the amount of vegetation imports, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Services has allocated Rs. 17.5 million for a large-scale vegetable cultivation project. The project should reduce Sri Lanka's dependence on other countries for agricultural imports and improve the income of farmers. Beans, dambala, green grams, and tomatoes will all be grown in the project.