SME Times News Bureau | 09 Sep, 2019
The sixth India-China
Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) came to a conclusion on Monday in New Delhi
with both sides agreeing that the SED has emerged as a crucial mechanism to
facilitate bilateral trade and investment flows and enhance economic
cooperation between the two sides.
The Dialogue which was held
from held from 7-9 September 2019 in New Delhi comprised of round table
meetings of Joint Working Groups on infrastructure, energy, high-tech, resource
conservation and policy coordination followed by technical site visits and
closed door G2G meetings.
Senior representatives from
policy making, industry and academia participated in this dialogue from both
sides. The Indian side was led by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog
and the Chinese side by Mr. He Lifeng, Chairman, NDRC.During his intervention,
Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, emphasised on taking concrete steps
to address India’s trade imbalance with China.
The two sides undertook
in-depth discussions reviewing trade and investment climates in order to
mutually identify complementarities and harness synergies to this effect future
engagement. Potential areas of collaboration across innovation and investment
focusing on fintech and related technologies were highlighted.
The two sides agreed to
exchange annual calendar of activities to further activate regular channels of
communication.
The two sides
noted the significant progress made in the feasibility study on
Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore railway upgradation project and personal training of
Indian senior railway management staff in China, both of which have been
completed.
They held detailed
discussions on identifying the next steps in all areas of cooperation as well
as on taking forward the study project exploring the possibility of Delhi-Agra
high speed railway in the pilot section.
The two sides
agreed to identify new projects for cooperation as well as support enterprises
to expand cooperation in the transport sector.
The two sides
assessed the achievements made since the 5th SED and exchanged views
on regulatory procedures of ease of doing business, development of artificial
intelligence, high-tech manufacturing, and next-generation mobile
communications of both countries.
Discussions were
held on technological innovation, industrial situation, and mechanism for
further strengthening cooperation as well as on India-China digital
partnerships, data governance and related industry policy.
The two sides
discussed and reviewed the progress made in the fields of water management,
waste management, construction & demolition waste and resource
conservation.
They also
deliberated on the role of innovation in the sector. Effective
utilization of novel concepts in low cost construction technology, methods of
flood and erosion control, air pollution etc. was also discussed.
They also pressed
upon the need for promoting cooperation in emergent areas like Waste to Power,
co-processing of Septage with Sewage Sludge, storm water management etc. In
order to promote enhanced cooperation in the above areas, two sides agreed on
continued interaction and exchange of relevant information more frequently.
Both countries identified
future areas of collaboration and resolved to work on Renewable Energy space,
Clean coal technology sector, Smart Grid & Grid integration and Smart
meters & E-mobility sectors.
Both sides agreed on
cooperation in R&D for developing new technology for manufacturing solar
cell from alternate material and improvement of efficiency of solar cells. Both
sides also agreed on cooperation in the field of e-mobility and energy storage.
The joint working groups noted that both sides should
further strengthen communication to promote pragmatic cooperation.
It was also decided that both sides should promote
pragmatic cooperation, strengthen complementary advantages in pharmaceutical
industry and explore cooperation for promoting Indian generic drugs and Chinese
APIs. This will benefit the development of pharmaceutical industry in both
countries.
Both the counterparts focused
on bilateral practicalcooperation and have achieved the concrete outcomes
through pragmatic and outcome-oriented deliberations.
The two sides agreed to
effectively utilize the SED mechanism as an over-arching and permanent
instrument to address outstanding issues and identify potential areas of
collaboration in order to augment bilateral economic and commercial ties
between the two sides.