儘管擔心就業損失 印度仍向外國零售商開放
In India, the government hopes that its decision to allow foreign retailers into the country will bring in billions of dollars of investment, create millions of jobs and modernize India’s retail sector.
印度政府決定允許外國零售商進入本國市場，並希望這一決定能夠帶來數十億美元的投資，創造數百萬個就業機會以及使印度的零售業現代化。不過，反對黨正在抗議這一行動，稱擔心這會造成就業損失。
India's Commerce Minister Anand Sharma says the government has built in safeguards to protect farmers and small shopkeepers while allowing the entry of foreign retailers like Walmart and Tesco into the country.
印度商工部部長夏爾瑪說，政府在允許沃爾瑪和樂購(Tesco)等外國零售商進入印度的同時，已經建立了保護農民和小店主的利益機制。
Foreign retailers have been given the green signal to invest up to 51 percent in multi brand retail, such as supermarkets. Foreign companies can now invest up to 100 percent in single brand retailers.
外國零售商已獲得綠色指示信號，向多品牌零售店、比如超市投資最多51%的股份。外國公司目前能夠向單品牌零售店投資最多100%的股份。
The new foreign superstores will be allowed to set up shop in cities with a population of at least one million. They must invest at least $100 million and half of this would have to be invested in rural infrastructure and refrigerated transport and storage. Thirty percent of their produce would also have to come from small and medium enterprises.
印度將允許這些新的外國超市在人口至少100萬的城市設立店鋪。他們必須投資至少1億美元，其中一半資金必須投資於農村基礎設施以及冷藏運輸和儲存設備，而且30%的產品必須來自於中小企業。
Global retail giants have waited for years for India to open its $ 450 billion domestic retail market, which is still largely dominated by mom and pop stores. But the government hesitated due to fears that the entry of foreign supermarkets will wipe out local livelihoods.
全球零售巨頭多年來等待印度開放其4500億美元的國內零售市場，現在印度的零售市場大體上仍由小零售店主宰。但是印度政府對於開放零售市場曾經猶豫不決，因爲擔心外國超市的進入會毀了當地店主的生計。
A day after allowing foreign direct investment or FDI in retail, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma tried to calm such concerns.
在作出允許外國直接投資於零售業的決定一天之後，印度商工部部長夏爾瑪設法平息這樣的憂慮。
“This step which we have taken is an investment in the present and the future of this country," he said. "This will help immensely India’s farmers. It will help in creating jobs both in manufacturing as well as in the agro and food processing sectors. It will bring in enormous amounts of FDI into this country to build the infrastructure.”
夏爾瑪說：“我們採取的這個步驟是對這個國家的現在和未來的一種投資。它將非常有助於印度的農民。它將有助於創造製造業以及農產品和食品加工業的就業機會。它將給這個國家帶來大量外國直接投資，用於建造基礎設施。”
Over the next three years, Sharma said foreign retailers could help create up to 10 million jobs, many of them in rural areas. He says the establishment of cold storage facilities by these retail chains will improve India’s decrepit infrastructure which results in up to 50 percent losses of fresh produce.
夏爾瑪說，在今後三年中，外國零售商能幫助創造最多1000萬個就業崗位，其中許多是在農村地區。他說，這些連鎖零售商建立的冷藏設施將改善印度破舊的基礎設施，這些破舊的基礎設施造成新鮮蔬果的損失，最高可達50%。
He also says farmers will benefit immensely by getting higher prices. At present they get a fraction of the price paid by consumers due to the presence of several middle men in India’s antiquated retail supply chain.
夏爾瑪還說，農民們將從更高的收購價格中極大受益。目前他們只能獲得消費者支付價格中的一小部分，因爲印度過時的零售供應鏈中存在着多層中間商。But the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party remains unconvinced. A senior BJP leader, Yashwant Sinha says the party will lead a nationwide movement to oppose the entry of global retail giants.
但是印度的主要反對黨印度人民黨對此仍存憂慮。該黨的高級領導人亞施旺特·辛哈說，該黨將在全國範圍內領導一場運動，反對全球零售巨頭進入印度。
Foreign retailers will wipe out small shopkeepers in the country and only the big players will survive, Sinha argues, warning that unemployment will rise in a big way.
辛哈說：“外國零售商會把印度的小零售商一掃而光，只有大的零售商才能生存。 失業率將會大大攀升。”
India’s retail sector is the second biggest employer after agriculture.
零售部門是印度的第二大僱主，僅次於農業。
The Communist Party of India also has misgivings, says its senior leader Sitarm Yechury.
該黨的高級領導人西塔拉姆·耶楚裏說：
Yechury says the influx of foreign capital in retail trade will be a huge threat to local jobs. It will not increase employment, it will take away livelihoods.
耶楚裏說：“外國資本涌入零售業將對當地的就業造成巨大威脅。它不會增加就業，而會奪去當地人民的生計。”
There are also concerns that although the federal government has approved the move, several state governments, ruled by opposition parties, could block the entry of foreign retailers into their states.
還有一種擔憂在於，雖然聯邦政府已經批准這項決定，但是由反對黨主政的幾個邦政府可能會阻止外國零售商進入他們管轄的地區。
