India and Czech companies for high Technology Cooperation, Trade and Investment

The Dollar Business Bureau

With a view to enhancing greater economic engagement with the central and eastern Europe, a high level delegation of Indian officials and industry leaders has shared with their Czech Republic counterparts a slew of measures being taken by India to encourage foreign investors, particularly in the areas of high technology, including Capital goods & Engineering, under the government’s flagship,’ Make in India ‘programme.

Keen on engaging actively with Czech Republic and other eastern and central European nations, India has been working under a framework of an Indo-Czech Working Group in the area of Heavy Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing, since 2013. The fourth meeting of the JWG held at Brno to coincide with MSV Brno Fair between October 3-6, 2016 wherein a review of the progress in bilateral ties was taken up and a roadmap for future cooperation was finalised.

Accompanied by senior representatives of companies, institutions and SMEs in the engineering and allied areas, the Indian delegation was led by Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry, Mr Girish Shankar. India’s Ambassador to Czech Republic Mr Krishan Kumar was also present. From the Czech Republic side, heavy duty trucks makers TATRA, ZLK, Bonotrans, T Machinery and SZU Engineering and Test Institute also made their presentations about stepping up their Indian engagement.

“While we seek technology transfer from the eastern Europe, the Indian engineering industry which is upgrading fast on the high tech value chain, has positioned itself well in the Czech Republic. This is evident from the trade figures. Of the total Indian exports to Czech Republic of USD 523 million, the engineering accounted for USD 413 million, “said Mr Shankar after the meeting of JWG.

He said India is actively seeking foreign direct investment in the engineering and high technology including defence. The government led by Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has liberalized the FDI policies and procedures, assuring the global investors the maximum ease of doing business. Initiatives like hike in the FDI limit, integrating India into a single market through the tax reforms through legislations like Goods and Services Tax, have enhanced the confidence of global investors into the Indian economy, which has emerged as the fastest growing in the world.

In his presentation, Chairman of the EEPC Chairman Mr T S Bhasin said while the Indian engineering industry has come a long way in moving up the value chain, a lot more is required. "Indian firms, even in the small and medium scale want to adapt to the state of the art technology to stay competitive in the global market".

In their 4 day visit, the Indian delegation also participating in parallel activities like B2B meetings for the Indian delegation, industry visits, technology scouting etc.