Big-ticket investment projects will boost India-German relationship
Mittelstand companies, referred as a group of unique businesses in German-speaking countries which are very successful and are usually capable of surviving economic turbulence, must focus on India as a land of opportunity and take advantage of the Indian growing economy.
Rahul Chhabra, Secretary (Economic Relations), Ministry of External Affairs, said this at the ‘1st Indo-German Mittelstand Business Summit’, organized by FICCI, jointly with BVMW, on 8 June 2021.
“India is really the opportunity that Mittelstand need to explore, grab and collaborate with. We are looking at four key areas where both countries could collaborate in the Mittelstand which include AI & Digitalization, Environment & Sustainability, Supply chain resilience, and Healthcare sectors,” said Chhabra.
With the negotiations in trade and investment agreement restarted in the EU, that is to be concluded soon, Chhabra sees more companies benefiting from this. “They need to look at India more of an opportunity, rather than a challenge” added Chhabra.
In order to further strengthen the India-German strategic relationship, Chhabra believes that a few big-ticket investment projects in the areas of HSR (high speed railway) and defence will boost the bilateral relationship.
He said that the government has already announced various policy initiatives like the Production Linked Incentive Scheme, Start-up India and Digital India which act as the building blocks which are already in place.
“For German companies, we already have a fast-track approval system at DPIIT. The Embassy in Berlin is also promoting ‘Make in India Mittelstand’ under which over 135 companies benefited with over a US$1 billion investments coming in since 2015,” he said.
He also urged the companies to explore investment opportunities in the S&T sector. “There is an Indo-German S&T Centre which is already there. We can easily leap-frog using these building blocks,” Chhabra stressed.
Dr Jurgen Morhard, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mumbai, pointed out that Indo-Pacific is the new mindset and India has played an eminent role in this.
The EU and Germany are committed to play even stronger role in Asia. “Many small Mittelstand companies from Germany are determined to make India their global hub for manufacturing and R&D,” he assured.
“We have a much stronger civil society bond as well between the two countries which is helping the industries. No foreign market is easy and challenging but India has a lot of opportunities,” he noted.
Dirk Wiese, Member of the German Bundestag & Chairman, German-Indian Parliamentary Friendship Group, highlighted the potential of both countries in the areas of renewable energy and infrastructure.
“We have a large number of SMEs which are the backbone of German industry, and we want to bring German SMEs to India under ‘Make in India Mittelstand’ to help strengthen the trade relations,” he assured.
Markus Jerger, Executive Director, BVMW, said that around 80% of all apprenticeships in Germany are conducted under the German Mittelstand. “Together with FICCI, we are facilitating Indo-German cooperation and facilitating business for SMEs,” he added.
BVMW is the German Association for Small and Medium Businesses, which brings together more than 800,000 companies from all business sectors, ranging from 1 employee to 120,000 employees.
Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI said that German companies boast of a track record of being long-standing and dependable investors in India.
“Indian investments in Germany are also sizable and have grown significantly in recent years. Within the European Union, Germany currently receives the highest percentage of India’s total annual FDI outflows,” he added. #investment #projects #technology #contracts #economy /fiinews.com
