India, Germany to increase engagement
Germany is the seventh largest investor in India. Some of the big German companies like BMW, Man AG and Volkswagen have stepped up their investments in India and several new companies are entering the Indian market.
By PTI |
BERLIN: India and Germany have agreed to increase their engagement in a number of key areas, including in climate change initiatives and cooperation in the fields of posts, intellectual property rights and social security.
This was decided at the just concluded two-day meeting of the 16th session of the Indo-German Commission on Economic and Development Cooperation co-Chaired by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, an official statement said here today.
During the deliberations, the two sides underlined the fact that there was increasing recognition that India was among the fastest growing economies in the world.
They also noted that India's strengths in information technology, chemicals, pharmaceuticals as well as easy availability of skilled labour and strong IPR regime made it a very attractive destination for the German investment.
Germany is the seventh largest investor in India. Some of the big German companies like BMW, Man AG and Volkswagen have stepped up their investments in India and several new companies are entering the Indian market. Siemens and Bosch are expanding their operations in India and IT major SAP has announced a strategic investment of $1 billion over five years.
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There is also a growing trend of Indian investments in Germany. Companies like Bharat Forge Limited, Ranbaxy, Samtel, Dr Reddy's labs and Mahindra & Mahindra have either acquired German companies or started their own companies in Germany.Chidambaram, who was accompanied by senior Indian government officials and a business delegation comprising eminent CEOs, including Sunil Bharati Mittal, President of Confederation of Indian Industries, met the Federal President of Germany, Hoerst Koehler, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck and Michael Glos, Minister for Economics and Technology.
In his inaugural address to the Joint Commission, the Finance Minister said India and Germany, have traditionally shared cordial and friendly relations and since 2001 and the bilateral relationship has assumed the nature of a Strategic Partnership.
Germany is an important trade, investment and technology partner for India. In 2006, it was India's fourth largest trading partner globally and India's largest trade partner in Europe, growing by nearly 40 per cent over 2005 and reaching Euro 10.55 billion. In terms of total FDI inflows, Germany was the seventh largest foreign investor in India.
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