India invites Czech cos to collaborate with Indian firms

NEW DELHI: India invited Czech Republic companies, mainly in sectors like infrastructure, defence and heavy industry, to collaborate with Indian firms to strengthen the economic ties between the two countries.

The issue came up during the meeting of Czech Republic Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Kohout with Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Praful Patel here.

Kohout is heading a high-level delegation to India. The two sides exchanged various possibilities for further strengthening the bilateral relations, especially in the field of infrastructure and heavy industry for segments like agriculture, textile, railways, an official release said.

Patel said that Czech companies have vast potential for establishing joint ventures with public/private enterprises of India as the Czech products can be more competitive than from the US or other European countries, it added.

Stating that Czech companies already enjoy a high goodwill in the Indian market, the minister said, the defence sector can be one of the emerging sectors in which Czech Republic can contribute, the statement said.

Besides, Patel said that there is huge potential in the field of tourism as Czech Republic can inspire more of its people to visit India, it said.

Kohout informed the Indian side that his country is already moving ahead in the direction of promoting tourism with India and by next year, the Czech Tourism office will reopen in India.

During 2012-13, the trade between India and the Czech Republic stood at about $900 million.