The Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a business forum "India Meets the World. India-Russia: new business horizons”.
"Russia and India are linked by centuries of friendship. The current strength of this state is comprehensively due to its support by our country at various times, both during its quest for independence, and its formation and development.,” - said the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Vladimir Platonov, in his welcoming speech. - “Now, as never before, is the time to strengthen the mutually beneficial cooperation with our true friends".
The Deputy Head of the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow, Mr. Alexey Bondaruk, said that as of January 1 of this year, the volume of accumulated investments from India to Moscow's economy is close to 150 million US, and in the first half of 2022, India has climbed to the twelfth place in the level of foreign trade turnover. "One cannot help but be happy that trade turnover in the first half of the year grew by 120%. We are actively cooperating in the chemical, pharmaceutical, oil and gas refining industries, mechanical engineering, especially in high-tech and smart solutions." According to the official, the active rapprochement is facilitated by "the use of rupee-ruble settlements, the development of alternative transport routes, as well as a generally proactive stance of business circles
"I would like to take the liberty of editing the title of today's Forum. It is not that India meets the world, but the world that meets India," Mr. Alexander Rybas, the Russian Trade Representative to India, began his speech, saying - “India today is like a favourite child for everyone. It is a huge, dynamically developing country. All think tanks say that India will continue its dynamic growth in the next few years, i.e. its economy will grow 7% a year. The speaker named human resources and state support as the main advantages of the Indian economy. "India has 1 billion 420 million people. But what matters is not even the number, but the demographic structure of the population: India is a young country. In 2025 the average age of its resident will be 29. Another important factor is the large middle class - about 300 million people with high purchasing power. At the same time, Mr. Rybas emphasized that the Indian market is highly competitive, with major companies from around the world, and entering it is not an easy process, but “rewarding”.
Noting the recent growth in trade turnover between Russia and India, the expert also pointed to its imbalance. "We see a gap in the level of political dialogue and achievements in trade turnover. At the end of 2021, Russia, as a trading partner, was in 21st place for India. Last year's trade turnover exceeded $13.5 billion and reached its record highs. According to Indian analysts, from April to August of this year, trade turnover exceeded $18 billion 200 million. The exports of hydrocarbons and fertilisers have mainly increased. Deliveries from India account for less than $1 billion of the total turnover and mostly come from the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Rybas talked about opportunities for Russian companies to participate in infrastructure projects in India. "The infrastructure sector is the key driver of the economy and the Indian government pays great attention to its development. This is comprises construction of bridges, dams, roads, development of power industry, urban infrastructure, railway transport and metro construction", - said the trade representative.
According to experts, by the end of this year India will become the third largest construction market in the world. The country's authorities plan to invest more than $1 trillion to $400 billion in infrastructure projects between 2019 and 2023 as part of the "national infrastructure pipeline." In many areas, such as railroad construction and metro construction, Russian companies have good prospects for participation.
Mr. Manish Kumar, the President of Soltex Group LLC, Deputy Chairman of MCCI Commission on foreign economic cooperation with partners in India, noted that now Russia, due to the rupture of many partnerships, needs various goods, which India can provide. This involves car parts, textiles (including industrial), engineering products, pharmaceuticals, etc. However, according to the speaker, trade turnover and trade ties are not developing intensively enough. "What do we lack? - Mr. Kumar posed the question. - It's a mystery, it's a question... Our countries have 75 years of great relations, but business is not getting to the next level." Now issues of logistics are being solved - new corridors are being developed, ships go to Novorossiysk, to St. Petersburg, the problems of mutual settlements not in hard currencies, but in rubles and rupees are actively solved. The speaker expressed the hope that with the assistance of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow, business contacts will develop more intensively.
"We live in a new reality, in which the eastern direction of development presents an alternate path to opportunity. And this is a long-term trend," assured Mr. Ivan Timofeev, the Program Director of the Russian International Affairs Council. Among the positive factors for the development of economic relations with India he named the friendly disposition of the Indian government and guarantees for transactions, despite threats of secondary sanctions. At the same time, Mr. Timofeev stressed that small and medium-sized businesses do not have the opportunity to delve deeply into the essence of sanctions, and therefore often use "excessive compliance." "We are ready to organize consultations for representatives of Indian businesses on sanctions risks," said Mr. Timofeev.
Ms. Marina Vakulenko, the Deputy General Director of “Getrialprice” LLC, presented the Forum participants with a service that makes it possible to assess the real prospects of goods in the market. In 2-3 days using this service one can get the results of the study, which takes into account the characteristics of the market, available similar products, estimated costs and expenses.
At the end of the plenary session of the Forum, there were discussions on thematic issues. Mr.Nikita Zhvachkin, the Head of Corporate Banking and Financial Institutions Department of “Sberbank India”, spoke about the bank's payments and transactions conducted with non-problematic local currencies.
Mr. Oleg Preksin, the Chairman of the International Banking Committee of the EAC FBA, reported on the development of the payment system between the BRICS countries.
The issues of changing the logistics systems, given current conditions, were discussed by Ms. Irina Bocharnikova, the Head of the Resident Relations Department of Special Economic Zone "Lotos", who spoke about the development of the Caspian cluster of SEZ, and Mr. Oleg Dunayev, the Chairman of Transportation t and Logistics Subcommittee of the International Cooperation Committee of RSPP, who presented the growth vectors of the logistics business.
Several Indian companies made presentations at the forum. In particular, Mr. Ved Khare, the Managing Director of “MV Agro”, presented equipment for the milling industry and the representative of the “IFB”, Mr. Rakesh Srivastava spoke about his company’s capabilities in production of spare parts, industrial washing machines and other equipment. Mr. Manish Kumar, the Head of “Soltex Group” LLC, presented the main activities of his company, encompassing production of polymers, technical textiles, agro-industrial products and equipment, ceramic tiles, etc. The Director of Sales and Marketing of "Transatlantic International”, Mr. Vasily Emelyanov, told about the peculiarities of dealing with pharmaceutical products, household chemicals and food supply.
Work with partners from India was discussed by Ms. Olga Kulikova, the Business Ambassador of "Business Russia" in the Republic of India, and Mr. Alexei Sapozhnikov, the General Director of "Riddle & Partners" made a presentation of his company's services.
A separate section of the Forum was devoted to cooperation in the field of pharmaceuticals, supply of medicines, dietary supplements and personal care items. The Managing Director of "Baxil Pharma (P) Ltd”, Mr. Anil Singh, Director of “AYURNET", “Healthcare Private Limited”, Mr. Himanshu Chimanlal Vias, General Director of "Raymed Group”, Mr. Rai Rajiv Kumar presented the opportunities of their companies. The speakers pointed out the difficulties of entering the Russian market, including those, related to the origin of certification. As the Vice-President of the MCCI, Mr. Suren Vardanyan underlined, the Chamber is well aware of the subject of pharmaceutical products’ certification. And now, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry is developing and launching a project to help companies that want to enter Russian market to pass certification procedures. Mr.Leonid Kasyuk, the General Director of “MPM Adviser”, said that his team provides foreign companies with a service of importing foreign pharmaceuticals to the Russian market.
Mr. Oleg Abramov, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Shark LLC”, a resident company of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation of the Komi Republic, which supplies lumber to Iran and India, described successful regional experience of interaction with India.
Summing up the event, the Vice President of the MCCI, Chairman of the MCCI Commission on foreign economic cooperation with partners in India, Mr. Suren Vardanyan, stressed that India is a key partner for Russia and that the MCCI will continue to work on developing mutually beneficial relations between Russian, Moscow and Indian companies. The Vice President thanked the Moscow Department of External Economic and International Relations, Forum partners - “MV Agro”, (India), “MEDINTORG”, (Russia), “IFB” (India), “Baxil Pharma (P) Ltd”, (India), “Get real price”, (Russia), and the Special Economic Zone “Lotus", (Russia) for their assistance in organizing the event. The informational partner of the Forum was “TV BRICS”.