Project development fund for investment in CLMV countries

The government today said it has created a project development fund (PDF) to facilitate Indian investment in four countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV).

"The government has created a PDF for CLMV countries to facilitate Indian investment and broaden manufacturing base of Indian companies in the region," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Replying to a separate question, she said section 3 (d) of the Indian Patent Act, 1970 is complaint to WTO norms and there is no evidence to show that this norm restrains innovation.

Multi-national companies particularly in the pharma sector have alleged that this section restricts innovation.

Replying to a separate question, she said to protect the brand value of Indian pharma and counter the allegations against the domestic pharma industry as exporter of spurious/counterfeit drugs, bar coding has been made mandatory only for pharmaceutical exports.

She also said that it was informed to SME Pharma Industries Confederation (India) that the bar code on drugs and pharmaceuticals meant for exports only.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)