India sets out its stall for global retailers

印度向外资有限开放零售市场

2006年1月25日 星期三

印度向外资有限开放零售市场 India sets out its stall for global retailers

锐步（Reebok）、诺基亚（Nokia）、路易威登（Louis Vuitton）和古姿（Gucci）等全球品牌，将首次得以在印度拥有并经营自己的店铺，因为共产党支持的印度政府昨晚批准放宽外国直接投资法规。

Global brands such as Reebok， Nokia， Louis Vuitton and Gucci will for the first time be able to own and operate their own stores in India after the country‘s communist-backed government last night approved a liberalisation of foreign direct investment rules.

印度政府同意外资在单一品牌零售企业中占据51%的股权，这是一揽子措施中最为引人注目的一点。这些措施旨在表明，印度政府决心启动停滞的经济改革计划。

Consent to permit 51 per cent foreign investment in single brand retail operations was the most striking among a package of measures aimed at signalling the Indian government‘s determination to kick-start a stalled programme of economic reforms.

然而，此次政策的有限放松，并没有将印度的零售业全面开放。全球最强大的一些零售集团一直在私下要求这种全面开放。包括沃尔玛（Wal-Mart）和特易购（Tesco）在内的公司大力游说，试图获准进入印度市场。目前，印度市场上占据支配地位的是900万家“夫妻老婆”店。

However， the limited relaxation fell short of the wholesale opening of India‘s retail sector that has been privately demanded by the world's most powerful retail groups. Companies including Wal-Mart and Tesco lobbied hard to be allowed into a market dominated by 9m “mom and pop” corner stores.

尽管如此，在达沃斯世界经济论坛前夕，昨晚的一揽子改革措施将被视为一种强有力的推动。在该论坛上，一个庞大的印度代表团将大力推介印度经济。这个代表团的成员包括印度最大私企信心工业（Reliance Industries）的董事长穆克什。安巴尼（Mukesh Ambani），以及印度第二大高科技公司信息系统公司（Infosys）的首席执行官南丹。尼勒卡尼（Nandan Nilekani）。

Last night's package of reforms will nonetheless be seen as a notable boost on the eve of the World Economic Forum at Davos， where a large Indian delegation， including Mukesh Ambani， chairman of Reliance Industries， India‘s largest private sector company， and Nandan Nilekani， head of Infosys， the country's second biggest technology company， will be cheerleading for the Indian economy.

“这是15年来外国直接投资首次得到通盘考虑，以消除反常与前后不一致的情况，”印度工商部长卡迈勒。纳特（Kamal Nath）对《金融时报》表示。“各公司将被允许在单一品牌下，出售在世界各地销售的商品。拥有多个品牌的零售商将不会被允许这么做，即便这些品牌商品是同一家公司生产的，”他补充说。

“This is the first time in 15 years that FDI has been reviewed in an integrated manner to remove anomalies and inconsistencies，” Kamal Nath， India's commerce minister， told the Financial Times. “Companies will be allowed to sell goods sold internationally under a single brand. Retailers of multiple brands， even if they are made by the same company， will not be allowed，” he added.

迄今为止，在印度市场，海外零售商只有与本土伙伴进行合作，通过专卖安排才能经营，这与中国形成了对比。中国已向外国投资者开放零售业。

International retailers have until now been able to operate in India only through franchise arrangements with local partners， in contrast to China， which has thrown open its high streets to foreign investors.

目前，印度商务部还未清楚说明，它将如何实施上述谨慎的新政策。尽管印度产业机构进行了许多努力，以维持零售业在尽可能长的时间里不对外国竞争开放，但政府还是出台了这些新政策。

India‘s commerce ministry has yet to spell out how it will apply the cautious new policy， which has emerged despite an intense campaign by Indian industrial houses to keep the retail sector closed to foreign competition for as long as possible.

译者/张征