SME Times News Bureau | 13 Aug, 2019
Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal led
a high-power delegation of Chief Ministers of Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh
and Goa and about 140 Indian companies to Vladivostok, Russia from August
11-13, 2019.
This visit came as a fulfilment of the assurance
of Prime Minister,Narendra Modi to Russian President,Vladimir Putin during
their meeting in Bishkek earlier this year on the sidelines of the SCO Summit,
to explore opportunities for enhancing trade and investment from India to the
Far East region of Russia.
About 200 Russian companies, Investment Agencies
and Funds took part from the Russian side. Companies interacted separately with
identified partners in an expanded B2B format and established contacts for
further deliberations.
The companies belonged to a wide cross-section of
priority sectors, including minerals and rare earth, energy, forestry and
timber, healthcare, agriculture and food processing, ceramics, tourism and
infrastructure.
The event was the result of collaboration between Invest India and Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry on the Indian side, and the
Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic under the
leadership of Alexander Kozlov and the Far East Investment and Export Promotion
Agency on the Russian side.
On August 12, 2019, the companies showcased in
different sessions the prospects of mutual collaboration in the promising
sectors through presentations. The sessions were attended by the Governors of
several regions of the Far East and senior officials on both sides.
In the Plenary Session attended by close to 400
delegates, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Yuri Trutnev and Commerce Minister
of India underlined the need to diversify and deepen trade links in priority
sectors, in order to meet the trade target of USD 30 billion by 2025.
Piyush Goyal urged companies on both sides to use
this special opportunity to come together to discuss partnerships directly with
each other, and to come up with concrete project proposals and substantial
outcomes.
The Plenary Session culminated with the signing
of MoUs between regions of the Russian Far East and five states of India to
expand and strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade, economy, investment,
scientific and technical cooperation.
An agreement was concluded on the establishment
of the representative offices, the Centre for Yoga, and the Pushkin Centre for
Russian Language and cultural studies. Another MoU on skill development was
signed between National Skill Development Corporation and Far East Investment
and Export Agency.