Indian Merchant´s Chamber: Mumbai will shine again

Source: Xinhua | 12-02-2008 08:37

by Zhang Yashi, Wen Jian

MUMBAI, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- "This is only a temporary setback, Mumbai will recover within six months to one year, maximally," said Secretary-General of the Indian Merchant's Chamber P.N. Mogrein an interview with Xinhua on Monday afternoon.

The terror nightmare of Mumbai which happened last week was a shock to the whole India, and it caused a business loss of about 100 billion U.S. dollars as estimated, said Mogre.

Tourism will be the most seriously affected industry after the attack, followed by airline companies as this is a chain reaction. He explained that foreign people may think that Mumbai is not safe.

"Last year we had five million tourists coming in and we expected to have seven million next year," Mogre said, adding that the number will go down because of the incident.

He said it takes time for the city to come out of the shock and believed that the dark shadow will not last long, if they strive to rebuild the confidence of people, especially foreign investors towards Mumbai.

Indian business chambers and associations will call a meeting on Dec. 4 to discuss game plans for the government as a reference to see how the security of the Mumbai could be improved.

"We have to protect our home," said Mogre, "the incident opened up our eyes and we're taught a lesson. We have to increase our vigilance."

The Merchant's Chamber suggested that security counters be set at the entrance of every hotel. Everyone, whoever he is must walk through the scanning machine and has his or her luggage checked for safety reasons.

Besides, Mumbai's inshore security should be tightened up to prevent attackers from landing as they did this time.

While some may be concerned that the tragedy may become an additional burden to the whole economy of Mumbai, or even India amid the global economic downturn, Mogre is having a rosy view upon it.

"The impact (of the downturn) is small to India as the internal market of the country is big," he said that when Mumbai, which contributes 40 percent of the country's wellbeing, becomes a safe place again, its position of being India's financial center will soon be restored.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei