Second India-Eu Business Summit
November 22-23, 2001, New Delhi

Welcome Address by Mr Chirayu R Amin, President, FICCI

H E Ms Annemie Neyts, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Belgium
Mr Pascal Lamy, EU Commissioner for Trade
Mr Murasoli Maran, Hon’ble Minister for Commerce & Industry, India
Mr Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister of Power, India
Mr Sanjiv Goenka, President, CII
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the entire Indian industry, it gives me a great pleasure to extend very warm welcome to you all at this Second India-EU Business Summit.

Excellencies, your visit comes at a time when India and EU are moving towards developing a broad-based relationship and are on the threshold of forging a genuine economic partnership. I am confident that the current Summit will make significant strides towards achieving that objective.

May I reiterate that the Declaration on Strategic Partnership signed at Lisbon last year stems from a natural affinity between India and the European Union. After all, we share many values, be it the commitment to the tenets of democracy, rule of law, or human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The EU is India’s largest trading partner accounting for more than a quarter of India’s exports of goods & services, second largest source of investment and a major potential destination for our services exports. Despite this, India still accounts for just one-third of one per cent of EU’s total imports of goods. I may mention here that India’s exports to European Union have been coming under increasing restrictions on account of anti-dumping, anti-subsidy action as well as other non-tariff barriers.

Globalisation has brought about a remarkable integration in the world markets in trade, technology and capital. India’s response to the twin challenges of liberalisation and globalisation has been unwavering and we have tried to take advantage of these to rejuvenate our economy.

But we must also recognise that globalisation would succeed only when its benefits are shared equitably. There is a growing perception amongst Indian industry and trade that the anticipated gains of globalisation to developing economies like India have been much less than expected.

We in India see EU as crucial partner in the years to come. To take an example, India looks forward to welcoming Foreign Direct Investments from all cornerns of the EU. Our power, communications, roads, ports and other infrastructure sectors, present a significant opportunity for EU to capitalise upon. India today is a competitive investment destination.
From India’s point of view, I must mention that one of the objectives of today’s Business Summit is to address the unease and discomfiture of foreign investors in vital areas like manufacturing, engineering, IT and telecom, agro-food, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals and banking & financial services.

This Summit has a fairly focussed agenda. It will seek to create partnerships in four select sectors of agri-business and food processing, information technology, biotechnology and manufacturing & engineering industry.

I hope this Summit would place Indian and European businesses on a new trajectory of joint endeavor and partnership in the new millennium.

Thank you.