CII, Dutch business chamber sign MoU to boost economic links

The Hague Chamber of Commerce, West Holland Foreign Investment agency (WFIA) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed an MoU on Monday to boost trade and economic links between The Netherlands and India.

The signing of the pact came after an interactive session between captains of Indian industry and Dutch Foreign Trade MInister C.E.G. (Karien) Van Gennip.

The MoU was signed by Chairman of CII's Haryana State Council and Omax Group Managing Director J K Mehta, Vice-President, The Hague Chamber of Commerce Jan ter Haar and Vice-President, Business Development, West Holland Foreign Investment Agency, Charlene Lambert.

Under the MoU, the two sides will explore opportunities to promote trade and investment. They will ensure a regular exchange of professionals, information about products and industrial processes, economic, commercial and investment matters.

The MoU will also further the cooperation between organizational activities such as seminars and conferences by the Dutch and Indian specialists. Both sides will extend support to trade missions, trade fairs and exhibitions in both countries.

The 29-member Dutch trade delegation also engaged the CII members in a one-to-one match making session.

The delegation comprised leading Dutch firms in areas of banking, IT, biotechnology, electronics and telecom; healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, biomedical informatics, sliding door manufacturers, chambers of commerce representing industry interest in three regions.

Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar said that the bilateral trade has grown steadily to Euros 2.28 billion in 2005. Cumulative investment by the Netherlands in India since 1991 is 1.99 billion dollars in the fields of telecommunications, services, trading, food processing and chemicals. "This makes Netherlands the fifth largest investor in India," Kumar said.

The Netherlands has cooperated closely and effectively with India in multilateral trade organizations such as the World Trade Organization and within the European Union. Both countries need to streamline visa procedures and introduce a fast-track scheme for highly skilled migrants to make things move in the right direction, Kumar said.

Today, India is viewed as a knowledge economy capable of providing crucial backup for R&D work in sectors like pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and microbiology and not just as a low-cost manufacturing or human resource hub, the minister said. IT manufacturing is the key. "No country can become a global player if it is not a knowledge-based economy."

India's total overseas investment is about 6.6 billion dollars which is minuscule compared to China, but there is tremendous scope for expansion, Mr Kumar said.

Gennip said that the companies in the Dutch delegation reflect the highly-specialised know-how that the country has to offer. The impressive achievements of the Indian IT and biotechnology sectors offer ample opportunities for cooperation and investments by Indian companies in the Netherlands.

Gennip said many Dutch conglomerations have been established in India such as the ABN Amro Bank, Unilever, Philips and ING that will enhance the scope of economic relations between the two countries. The objective is to create new partnerships and renew existing ones.

There are 25 Indian companies operating in The Netherlands and close to 50 Dutch companies in India. "This needs to be increased..." was the mission of the delegation.

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