India a good place to invest, says CBC’s Amanda Lang

In the wake of changes to India’s business laws regarding foreign investment, India is now a solid place to invest your money, according to one of Canada’s most respected business journalists.

In a national Twitter-based question and answer session Friday, CBC business journalist Amanda Lang was asked her opinion on where to invest in today’s climate, and ranked India the third best place in the world to do so after Canada and ‘under her bed.’

Somewhat surprisingly, given their global importance, China ranked last on her list.

“Under my bed looks very good…but then – Canada, India, US, Europe, then China,” she tweeted to thousands of Canadian fans of the Lang and O’Leary Exchange, a nightly look at the business world that has steadily grown an audience over the last year – so much so that the show is moving off CBC’s News Channel and on to the parent network.

India has just announced a change to laws that would allow large companies such as Wal-Mart and Tesco to enter the national business scene, a situation that some are seeing as a sign that India is open for business to the west, while struggling economies in Europe and the US, and human rights issues in China are stalling those markets.

Lang had a series of suggestions for those engaging in the investment world, and cast an opinion on national tax policy, suggesting a low corporate tax with high capital gains tax would be a good way to “redistribute wealth.”

She called education “our best investment – our grads are relatively well off”, and suggested keeping IP in Canada is one of the most pressing issues facing the nation. She also took a stand that environmental concerns and corporate profits can coexist, something her TV partner, Kevin O’Leary, often and loudly disagrees with.

The Lang and O’Leary Exchange can be seen nightly on CBC News from 7pm-8pm, and is repeated in abridged form on CBC at 3am.