LAS VEGAS-In an expansive interview at RECon 2014, Anuj Puri, chairman and country head of JLL in India, discussed the problems and the promise of the country's political and economic turmoil. A new government is now in place, and a new prime minister, Narendra Modi (NaMo), is making all of the right promises, said Puri, including a new-broom approach to governmental inaction. The new government, Puri indicated, is also “very pro-business.”

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But as he explained, the government was in place for literally days when RECon convened, so any positive effects from a leader promising reformation had yet to be felt. In the meantime, India's struggling economy and restrictions on foreign investment are still problematic. However, its now-booming equity markets, which have turned around the corner since NaMo came to power, do herald the coming of good times in the future.

Puri explained, as it pertains specifically to retail, that the government there controls which brands are allowed in, and only certain types of foreign players are allowed access into the country. Major brands such as Armani and Gucci are first timers who are making a presence there. But other players, umbrella firms, that might represent what Puri called “multi-brands,” are restricted by existing investment policies.

Overall, with the new regime in place, the JLL executive said that he was optimistic about the prospects for international investment coming into India generally. On the retail front, however, only time would tell, and that time is likely to be extended as the country as a whole waits for the economy to turn and for that recovery to trickle down to the retail sector.

Beyond India, the retail sector for Asia Pacific as a whole is doing very well. Learn more about how the overall region is performing in this short video: